OF  THE 
r.ni  i  FftF  / 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION 


UPON     THE 


PLANS    FOR    THE    EXTENSION 


INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING 


Submitted  to  the  Governor  January   1  O,   1  9  1  1. 


Printed  in  accordance  with  Joint  Resolution  No.  71.  S. 


MADISON,  WIS. 

DEMOCRAT  PRINTING  COMPANY,  STATE  PRINTER 

1911 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION 


UPON    THE 


PLANS    FOR    THE    EXTENSION 


OF 


Industrial  and  Agricultural  Training 


Submitted  to  the  Governor  January   1  O,  1911. 


Printed  in  accordance  with  Joint  Resolution  No.  71,  S. 


MADISON,  WIS. 

DEMOCRAT  PRINTINGS  COMPANY,  STATE 
1911 


T74- 


To  the  Honorable  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin: 

Herewith  is  submitted  the  report  of  the  commission  upon 
the  plans  for  the  extension  of  industrial  and  agricultural  train- 
ing. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

C.  P.  GABY,  Chairman. 
C.  E.  VAN  HISB. 
C.  Gr.  PEAESE. 
L.  E.  KEBEB. 

C.  MCCARTHY,  Secretary. 
January  10,  1911. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Page 

PART  I — INTRODUCTION 1 

Basis  of  Report 1 

Conditions  in  the  state 3 

Conservation  of  intelligence 4 

Illiteracy (j 

Scope  of  report 7 

Salaries  of  teachers 7 

Special  school  of  normal  grade 8 

Independent  high  schools 9 

Recommendations  of  the  Commission 9 

A.  Industrial   education    „ 9 

B.  Agricultural   education    11 

C.  General 12 

PART    II — INDUSTRIAL   EDUCATION 14 

Germany  14 

Heavy  investment   ^      17 

Practical  nature  of  work 19 

Continuation  schools    20 

Administration 26 

Teachers 27 

Task  system 28 

How  can  German  methods  be  applied  to  our  state? 29 

Existing  remedies   30 

Manual   training   '. 30 

Wisconsin   agricultural   schools 31 

Compulsory  industrial  education  under  16  years  of  age  32 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PART  II — INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION — Continued.  Page 

„  Continuation  schools  38 

Evening  schools  46 

Analysis  of  existing  methods 46 

Incentives  should  be  studied  and  used 52 

Evening  schools  in  England 57 

Trade  schools  59 

Difficulties  relating  to 59 

Attitude  of  organized  labor 65 

Apprentice  system  75 

Part  time  arrangements 78 

Pitchburg  system  '. 79 

Cincinnati  system  80 

University  extension  in  relation  to  apprenticeship.....  81 

Beverly  plan  82 

Boston  continuation  schools 83 

Chicago  building  trades  agreement 83 

Administrative    control    85 

A  separate  administration  recommended 86 

Aid  from  capital  and  labor 87 

Other   administrative   methods   and   devices 90 

Shall  tuition  be  paid? 90 

Certificates   and   examinations - 92 

Sale  of  produce , 93 

Experimental   work    94 

Task  system- 95 

University   extension    96 

Teachers    : 101 

Text   books    103 

Secondary    considerations    104 

By-products  of  industrial  education 104 

Citizenship     109 

Sanitation 110 

Vocational  direction 110 

Social  factors   Ill 


CONTENTS.  vii 

PART  II — INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION — Continued.  Page 

Miscellaneous   suggestions    112 

Blind   alleys 112 

Cost    113 

Should  always  be  for  the  many 114 

PART  III — AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION 114 

The  value  of  agricultural  training 114 

Better    trained   teachers 116 

State   aid  for  agricultural  training 118 

The  present  condition  of  agricultural  teaching  and  sugges- 
tions for  further  development.  .' 119 

The  county  training  schools 119 

The  rural  schools 121 

The  consolidated  country  schools 121 

The  state  graded  schools 124 

The  township  high  schools 125 

The  village  and  city  high  schools 127 

The  county  schools  of  agriculture  and  domestic  economy  128 

The  university 130 

Conclusion   .                                 135 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION 


UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE  EXTENSION  OF 


Industrial   and   Agricultural  Training 


PART  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Basis  of  report. — The  report  of  the  Commission  on  Educa- 
tion^ herewith  submitted  to  the  Wisconsin  legislature  of  1.911, 
is  based  upon  Joint  Resolution  No.  53,  of  the  legislature  of 
1909.  This  resolution  is  as  follows: 

"Whereas,  Reliable  statistics  show  that  there  are  at  least 
104,000  illiterates  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin  at  the  present  time, 

"Whereas,  There  is  a  great  movement  through  this  entire 
country  at  the  present  time  to  establish  night  schools  and  night 
trade  schools  so  that  workers  and  those  who  have  been  denied 
education  cannot  only  get  the  elements  of  education  but  can 
also  improve  themselves  in  their  business  of  life, 

Whereas,  The  growing  need  of  instruction  to  our  people 
who  cannot  attend  school  demands  from  us  some  investigation 
of  this  great  problem;  therefore  be  it 

"Resolved  by  the  senate,  the  assembly  concurring,  That  the 
state  superintendent,  the  president  of  the  .University  of  Wiscon- 
sin, the  director  of  the  University  Extension  Division  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin,  the  librarian  of  the  legislative  refer- 
•encfc  department,  and  the  superintendent  of  the  Milwaukee 


2       .  REPORT  QF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 


p^biic  .sck  0,0]  s  are  hereby  \created  a  commission  to  report  to  the 
iiekt  legislature  :irpoil  remedies  for  these  conditions:  and  be 
it  further 

"Resolved,  That  the  heads  of  these  departments  are  hereby 
directed  to  use  their  respective  clerical  forces  to  help  in  this 
matter  in  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  and  to  hold  such  conferences 
with  teachers  and  associations  as  will  enable  them  best  to  work 
out  the  plans  for  the  betterment  of  these  conditions,  provided 
that  none  of  the  said  officers  shall  receive  any  extra  compensa- 
tion for  their  services  but  may  receive  such  traveling  expenses 
and  other  expenses  necessary  to  the  fullest  investigation  of  all 
of  these  matters." 

The  commission  created  by  this  resolution  has  had  frequent 
meetings  during  the  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  which  has 
elapsed  since  the  passage  of  the  resolution. 

Upon  a  careful  analysis  of  the  resolution,  it  is  evident  that 
your  honorable  body  intended  to  have  this  commission  inves- 
tigate thoroughly  the  basis  of  education  in  this  state.  Your 
commission  found  at  once  that  the  great  question  of  illiteracy 
could  not  be  investigated  thoroughly  without  taking  up  the 
subject  of  compulsory  education  as  well  as  the  subject  of  the 
betterment  of  the  school  conditions  in  general.  If  there  are 
boys  and  girls  growing  up  in  this  state  who  are  illiterate,  and  it! 
there  is  a  crying  demand,  as  evidenced  by  your  resolution, 
that  evening  schools  should  exist,  and  that  opportunities  for 
industrial  and  agricultural  education  should  be  increased  in 
some  way,  it  appeared  to  your  commission  that  a  careful  and 
painstaking  review  of  our  entire  educational  situation  in  rela- 
tion to  these  grave  problems  must  be  undertaken. 

Your  commission  confesses  at  once  that  the  problems  com- 
mitted to  it  are  too  great  and  too  important  to  be  solved  in  the 
short  time,  and  with  the  limited  means,  at  its  disposal, 
nevertheless,  it  has  felt  that  within  the  limitations  imposed 
upon  it  by  the  lack  of  appropriation  and  time,  it  would 
not  do  its  duty  to  the  state  usless  it  made  some  attempt 
to  reach  fundamentals  and  arrive  at  some  conclusions  of 
a  constructive  nature  which,  although  they  may  not  fully 
solve  the  problems,  will  draw  attention  to  the  right  princii^es 
to  be  used  in  their  ultimate  solution. 

Our  analysis  has  led  us  step  by  step  to  the  conclusion  th&t 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.        3 

we  must  consider  thoroughly  the  great  industrial  and  social 
changes  which  are  taking  place  in  this  and  other  countries. 
Wisconsin  must  look  around  and  abroad,  as  she  does  not  live 
alone.  The  great  problems  which  confront  the  people  of  the 
surrounding  states  and  the  dearly  bought  lessons  from  abroad 
must  be  brought  home  to  us,  yet,  they  must  be  brought  home 
with  a  full  and  careful  analysis  of  the  actual  conditions  under 
which  our  own  people  live.  Our  investigations  have  led  us 
directly  to  the  study  of  the  relation  of  industry  to  education. 
It  is  the  education  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  and  not  the 
education  of  the  few,  which  must  be  thoroughly  investigated 
and  which  must  be  reorganized  upon  a  sound  basis,  with  an 
eye  to  the  conditions  of  the  future  progress  of  our  state. 

Conditions  in  the  state. — Your  commission  does  not  wish  to 
enter  upon  a  discussion  of  any  great  length,  concerning  the 
present  industrial  status,  but  nevertheless  in  approaching  the 
problem  of  industrial  and  agricultural  education,  it  is  necessary 
to  outline  briefly  the  actual  conditions  in  the  country  and  the 
state  in  order  to  understand  the  point  of  view  from  which  it 
worked. 

Whatever  may  have  been  our  natural  wealth  in  America, 
whatever  may  have  been  our  natural  advantages  in  the  past, 
we  must  admit  that  conditions  have  changed.  The  agitation 
throughout  the  country  for  the  preservation  of  our  natural 
resources,  the  anxiety  shown  on  every  hand  because  of  the  de- 
pletion of  our  forests,  the  wearing  out  of  agricultural  lands 
•  and  the  danger  of  exhaustion  of  our  mines,  show  us  that  we 
are  approaching  a  new  economic  era  in  America.  Our  coun- 
try has  changed  from  a  new  land  of  boundless  virgin  natural 
resources  to  a  country  which  must  husband  its  inheritance. 
The  state  of  Wisconsin  is  changing  as  rapidly  as  any  portion 
of  this  country.  In  fact,  it  has  become,  .in  little  more 
than  a  decade,  a  great  manufacturing  state,  covered  with 
small  villiages  and  cities.  We  have  now  over  100  fourth 
class  cities.  We  produce  yearly  at  least  $450,000,000  of  manu- 
factured products  and  $280,000,000  of  agricultural  products. 
We  have  changed  our  economic  and  social  life  at  the  same  time 
that  we  have  been  taking  the  cream  of  our  natural  resources. 
Our  future  must  be  a  struggle  for  prosperity  in  manufactur- 


* 

4          BEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

ing  and  in  commercial  pursuits  and  in  intensive  and  specialized 
agriculture.  We  are  rapidly  becoming  reduced  to  the  same 
economic  basis,  and  we  must  eventually  use  the  same  weapons 
in  our  industrial  struggle,  as  have  other  countries.  We  cannot 
dodge  the  fact  that  our  future  commercial  prosperity  and  the 
future  general  welfare  of  this  country  and  of  this  state  depend 
not  on  our  natural  resources  alone  but  mainly  upon  the  intel- 
ligence and  the  ability  of  the  people  of  this  country  and  of 
this  state. 

Wisconsin's  natural  resources  are  not  so  large  as  those  of 
a  number  of  other  states.  Her  prosperity  in  the  future  is  to 
be  dependent  not  only  upon  the  bounty  of  nature  but  also  upon 
the  patience  and  hard-working  qualities  and  the  intelligence 
of  her  people.  Her  future  greatest  resource  must  be  the  super- 
ior intelligence  of  individuals  in  their  various  vocations. 
Changing  as  we  are  from  an  almost  exclusively  agricultural 
into  a  manufacturing  and  agricultural  state,  we  must  provide 
education  adapted  to  both  agriculture  and  manufactures. 
The  older  countries  of  the  world  and  a  number  of  the  older 
states  in  this  country  have  already  built  up  a  great  manu- 
facturing population,  and  w.e  must  meet  their  competition 
while  we  are  in  this  period  of  change. 

We  have  then,  to  meet  conditions  in  this  country  with  which 
our  fathers  did  not  have  to  contend.  First,,  diminishing 
natural  resources  compel  us  to  fully  utilize  those  which  remain. 
By  study,  by  research,  by  enterprise,  by  training  alone  can 
this  be  accomplished.  Second,  diminishing  natural  opportunity 
for  the  individual  compels  us  to  create  an  opportunity.  If 
we  desire  the  equality  of  opportunity  which  our  fathers  had, 
to  continue,  this  must  depend  not  mainly,  as  it  formerly  did, 
nipon  new  land,  or  the  chance  to  exploit  mines  or  forests,  but 
-upon  the  brain  power  of  the  individual..  This  can  be  gained 
"Only  through  education  which  will  fit  him  to  meet  his  own 
•needs  and  those  of  this  state  and  country.  Are  we  not,  then, 
rday  by  day  nearing  the  period  of  keen  necessity — the  time  for 
^action  under  stress? 

Conservation  of  intelligence, — Thorough  preparation  and 
scientific  skill  must  take  the  place  of  the  squandered  gifts  of 
nature  and  eventually  the  artificial  bounty  of  the  tariff. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.        5 

"We  cannot  waste  our  resources  in  the  future ;  we  shall  not  have 
them  to  waste.  We  must  conserve  them  and  use  them  scjen- 
tifically.  An  unscientific,  worker  cannot  use  the  best  methods 
unless  he  is  taught.  We  must  establish  some  means  of  teach- 
ing our  people.  It  must  come  the  same  way  as  the  develop- 
ment of  manufacturing  or  the  development  of  land — by  the  use 
of  capital  and  the  most  improved  business  methods.  The  only 
way  of  developing  the  individual  is  through  education;  no 
other  way  has  yet  been,  or  ever  will  be  discovered. 

Special  consideration  has  been  given  by  the  commission  to 
the  German  system  of  education.  The  name  of  Germany  is 
in  everyone's  mouth;  because  of  her  astonishing  prosperity, 
that  country  has  attracted  the  attention  of  all  scholars  and 
travelers.  Germany  by  her  wonderful  system  of  democratic 
education,  has  met  the  real  needs  of  her  people;  she  has  cul- 
tivated their  intelligence,  and  by  so  doing  she  has  cultivated 
her  land  and  manufactures  and  built  up  her  commerce  and  in- 
dustrial success. 

In  America  we  have  boasted  of  our  ingenuity  and  of  our 
native  intelligence.  These  have  kept  us  in  the  race,  and  we 
have  kept  our  factory  chimneys  smoking.  Primarily  we  have 
overcome  our  shameful  waste  of  resources  which  has  resulted 
from  the  lack  of  thorough  and  far  seeing  scientific  processes, 
by  the  splendid  inventiveness,  push,  and  ingenuity  of  our 
population ;  that  is,  by  the  native  intelligence  of  our  people. 
We  have  seen  generation  after  generation  of  manufacturing 
people  in  America  change  until  our  workmen  show  diminished 
skill  and  ability,  and  in  some  industries,  lower  standards  of 
life.  When  our  skilled  workmen  began  to  fail  us,  we  imported 
others  and  with  rougher  help,  which  we  have  obtained  from 
all  over  the  world,  we  have  kept  up  our  progress  by  the  splen- 
did genius  of  our  leaders.  We  have  made  the  machine  take 
the  place  of  the  skilled  American  mechanic  of  the  past.  The 
alert  intelligence  and  ingenuity  of  the  American  has  saved  him 
for  the  present.  In  tool  machinery,  in  standardized  forms  of 
various  kinds,  we  have  held,  our  own  in  the  past  and  we  are 
still  holding  our  own.  But  for  how  long?  What  of  the  future? 
How  are  we  prepared  to  meet  competition  under  new  condi- 
tions? Are  our  children,  those  who  must  win  this  fight,  re- 
ceiving the  right  preparation  for  it  ?  Are  our  masses  of  sturdy 


6          REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

workers  getting  the  foundation  which  is  their  due  and  upon 
which  the  prosperity,  yes,  the  intelligence  of  the  citizens,  and 
eventually  our  industrial  peace  and  prosperity  depend?  Are 
they  getting  an  education  to  meet  their  needs? 

Illiteracy. — It  is  reported  by  the  National  Child  Labor  Com- 
mittee, that,  taking  the  ocuntry  as  a  whole,  not  more  than 
one-half  of  the  children  who  went  to  school  in  the  first  grade 
go  further  than  the  sixth;  that  barely  one  in  three  completes 
the  grammar  school  course;  that  only  one  in  five  enters  the 
high  school;  that  five-sixths  of  those  who  enter,  fail  to  gradu- 
ate. While  conditions  in  many  communities  are  better 
than  these  here  shown,  the  report  of  the  Committee  re- 
ferred to  makes  it  appear  that  out  of  the  entire  hody 
of  pupils  of  the  country,  not  more  than  one  in  thirty 
receives  a  complete  education  to  the  stage  of  gradua- 
tion from  the  high  school.  Mainly  from  this  small  per- 
centage of  high  school  graduates  come  the  candidates  for 
professional  and  managerial  positions,  and  a  large  proportion 
of  our  business  men  and  women.  "What,"  says  this  report, 
"becomes  of  the  vast  majority  of  those  young  people  who  fall 
out  along  the  way?  They  who  are  most  fortunate,  find  their 
way  into  the  skilled  trades.  They  who  are  least  fortunate,  go 
to  fill  the  ranks  in  the  army  of  the  unemployed." 

It  is  evident  that  a  large  percentage  of  our  children  are  not 
going  to  school.  Far-reaching  economic  and  social  considera- 
tions are  involved  in  this  situation.  The  whole  question  of  pover- 
ty and  progress  rises  before  us  when  we  consider  it.  The  future 
of  our  country  and  of  our  state  and  the  happiness  of  our  people 
is  involved  in  the  situation.  No  question  is  more  momen- 
tous; no  question  means  more  to  our  homes  and  to  the  phy- 
sical and  moral  well-being  of  our  people.  We  cannot  brush 
it  aside  as  England  has  attempted  to  do,  and  depend  upon  the 
empty  vanity  of  believing  forever  in  our  native  ability,  or 
conclude  that  Americans  are  a  superior  race  of  people  and 
that  it  will  "come  out  all  right  in  the  end."  Our  state,  strong 
and  young,  fitting  itself  for  its  industrial  life  and  for  its  com- 
petition with  older  states  and  older  peoples,  needs  to  take 
account  of  stock  and  look  to  the  future. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.        7 

Scope  of  report. — It  was  recognized  by  your  commission 
that  a  proper  consideration  of  the  full  scope  of  the  resoluiion 
of  the  legislature  would  involve  two  phases  of  educational 
development:  (1)  industrial  education  which  especially  per- 
tains to  cities  and  to  some  extent,  villages;  and  (2)  agricul- 
tural education  which  pertains  mainly  to  the  country.  Both 
of  these  subjects  are  connected  intimately  with  general  ques- 
tions of  education. 

The  recognition  of  the  above  led  the  commission  to  appoint 
two  sub -committees  to  consider  the  first  two  phases  of .  the 
subject.  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy  was  designated  by  the  com- 
mission as  a  sub-committee  to  make  a  draft  of  the  report  upon 
industrial  education.  To  the  preparation  of  this  report  Dr. 
McCarthy  has  given  much  time.  He  spent  several  months  in 
Germany,  chiefly  in  the  cities  of  Munich,  Coblenz,  Frankfurt, 
Cologne,  and  the  region  about  Cologne.  He  also  visited  Great 
Britain  and  studied  the  industrial  regions  about  London,  and 
in  the  smaller  manufacturing  cities  .of  Ireland.  He  also  spent  a 
short  time  in  Belgium,  chiefly  in  Brussels.  Dr.  McCarthy  fur- 
ther visited  the  larger  cities  of  the  east,  including  New  York, 
Boston,  Lowell,  and  Pittsburg,  in  which  industrial  education 
is  developed. 

For  agricultural  education  a  committee  was  appointed  out- 
side of  the  commission,  consisting  of  Dean  H.  L.  Russell, 
Professor  E.  C.  Elliott,  and  Professor  K.  L.  Hatch. 

The  reports  contained  herewith  upon  these  subjects  are 
largely  the  work  of  these  sub-committees.  However,  they  have 
been  twice  or  thrice  revised  by  the  commission  as  a  whole, 
and  as  printed  they  represent  not  simply  the  views  of  the  sub- 
committees but  those  of  the  entire  commission. 

,  Salaries  and  teachers. — Closely  connected  with  the  subJ3cts 
of  industrial  education  and  agricultural  education  is  the  ques- 
tion of  teachers'  salaries.  In  order  to  ensure  success  in  the 
vocational  training  movement  there  is  the  same  necessity  that 
a  minimum  salary  law  be  applied  to  these  salaries  as  to  salar- 
ies in  other  branches  of  education. 

Our  system  of  education  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  for 
the  public  schools  should  be  so  altered  and  improved  as  to  give 
a  better  grade  of  men  and  women  as  teachers,  and  this  applies 


8          KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

to  all  classes  of  schools.  At  the  same  time  the  demand  is- 
for  ability  and  service  that  cannot  be  secured  at  the  current 
prices.  Thirty,  forty,  or  even  fifty  dollars  per  month  is  not 
•enough  to  attract  men  and  women  who  must  earn  a  living 
and  who  are  really  competent  to  do  the  work  that  should  be 
done,  nor  enough  to  justify  that  thorough  training  necessary 
for  proper  results. 

As  a  partial  solution  of  this  problem,  the  enactment  of  a 
minimum  salary  law  has,  and  is,  being  urged  from  many 
quarters.  Without  doubt,  such  a  law,  framed  so  as  to  place  a 
premium  upon  thorough  general  and  special  training,  would 
accomplish  much  for  the  improvement  of  industrial  and  agri- 
cultural education.  Investigations  that  have  already  been 
made  concerning  the  situation  in  Wisconsin  show  conclusively 
that  a  law  fixing  the  minimum  salaries  of  teachers  would 
necessitate  some  form  of  special  state  aid  in  order  to  enable 
a  very  large  number  of  school  districts  in  all  sections  of  the 
state  to  meet  the  increased  expenditures.  The  practice  of  cer- 
tain other  states,  Indiana  and  Ohio,  in  particular,  of  setting 
aside  each  year  a  special  state  fund  to  enable  communities  to 
pay  suitable  teachers'  salaries,  and  in  other  ways  properly  sup- 
port the  school,  would  seem  to  be  worthy  of  consideration  by 
the  legislature. 

American  experience  for  a  hundred  years  at  least  has  proven 
conclusively  that  until  the  salary  scale  of  teachers  is  raised 
and  maintained  at  a  level  above  that  now  obtaining,  it  will  not 
be  possible  to  secure  effective  industrial  and  agricultural 
teaching.  A  living  wage  must  be  guaranteed  to  every  com- 
petent teacher,  and  every  community  in  the  state  should  be 
able  to  pay  this  wage  without  an  over  burden  of  taxation. 

Special  school  of  normal  grade. — Under  the  present  ]awr 
the  state  normal  school  graduate  is  qualified  to  teach  in 
any  elementary  or  secondary  school  within  the  state.  But 
as  the  normal  school  courses  of  study  are  at  present 
organized,  these  graduates  can  hardly  be  expected  to  pre- 
pare teachers  effectively  for  the  industrial  and  agricultural 
subjects  recommended  to  be  introduced  in  the  elementary  and 
secondary  rural  schools. 

The  number  of  teachers  of  agriculture  and  domestic  science 
that  will  be  required  in  the  state,  if  the  recommendations  sub- 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.        9 

xnitted  are  carried  out,  will  be  so  large  that  some  special  pro- 
vision should  be  made  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  for 
these  subjects.  This  can  probably  be  best  done  in  some  special 
school.  Your  commission,  therefore,  recommends  the  develop- 
ment of  a  state  institution  whose  prime  function  shall  be  the 
training  of  elementary  teachers  in  industrial  and  agricultural 
subjects. 

Independent  high  schools. — One  other  general  statement 
should  be  made.  At  the  present  time  some  fourteen  high 
schools  in  the  larger  cities,  sometimes  called  the  indepen- 
dent high  schools,  since  they  have  not  complied  with 
the  terms  of  the  law  in  reference  to  free  high  schools, 
do  not  receive  from  the  state  any  aid  for  vocational  train- 
ing. It  seems  to  the  commission  that  so  far  as  these  high 
schools  have  courses  in  manual  arts  and  domestic  science, 
and  so  far  as  they  introduce  courses  in  agriculture,  they 
should  be  placed  upon  the  same  basis  in  reference  to  state  aid 
as  the  free  high  schools  of  the  state. 

The  recommendations  submitted  by  the  commission  are 
given  below.  The  facts  upon  which  these  recommendations 
are  based  are  to  be  found  mainly  in  the  accompanying  papers 
upon  industrial  education  and  agricultural  education.  A  num- 
ber of  bills  will  be  submitted  to  the  legislature  putting  into  con- 
crete form  the  recommendations  of  the  commission. 


RECOMMENDATIONS  OF  THE  COMMISSION. 

The   commission   respectfully   submits   for  the   consideration 
of  the  legislature  the  following  recommendations. 


A.     INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION. 

1.  Advisory  bjard. — That  a  temporary  state  advisory  board 
for  industrial  education  be  -  appointed  by  the  governor  and 
that  an  assistant  and  other  officers  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
supervise  and  encourage  industrial  education  shall  be  added 
to  the  state  superintendent's  office;  said  assistant  to  be  ap- 


10        KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

pointed  by  the  state  superintendent  with,  the  approval  of  the 
board  of  industrial  education. 


2.  Local  boards, — That  there  be  established  in  every  com- 
munity, where  industrial  education  is  undertaken,  local  boards 
of  the  same  general  nature  as  the  temporary  state  advisory 
board,  which  board  shall  have  similar  control  in  their  localities 
over  industrial  education  and  evening  schools. 

• 

3.  Continuation    schools. — That,    as    soon    as    school    facili- 
ties can  be  provided  for  children  between  14  and  16  years  of 
age  already  in  industry,  they  be  compelled  to  go  to  school 
a  specified  time  each  week;  that  this  time  shall  be  expended  as 
far  as  possible  in  industrial  training;  and  that  the  hours  of 
labor  for  such  children  shall  not  exceed  8  hours  per  day  for 
six  days  of  each  week,  which  time  shall  include  the  time  spent 
by  each  student  in  vocational  schools. 

4.  State    aid. — That    after    careful    investigation    by    the 
boards  established  for  this  purpose,  continuation  schools,  trade 
schools,  and  evening  schools  shall  be  gradually  established  in 
the  state,  and  that  state  aid  shall  be  given  for  these  purposes, 
under  strict  limitations  as  to  methods  and  in  such  a  manner 
that  all  training  given  in  such  schools  can  be  combined  into 
a  harmonious  and  economical  system. 

5.  Apprentice    laws. — That    the    apprentice    laws    of    the 
state  be  changed  so  as  to  expand  them  and  bring  them  up  to 
date,  in  order  that  the  apprenticeship  system  may  be  put  in 
close  and  harmonious  relation  with  the  educational  system. 

6.  University   extension. — That   the    appropriation   for   the 
extension   division    of  the   university   be    increased   in   order 
that  this  division  may  form  a  flexible  element  in  the  gradual 
development   of  industrial  and  commercial   education  of  the 
state. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      11 


B.     AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION. 

7.  County    training    schools. — That    the    courses    of    study 
in  the  county  training  schools  be  modified  so  as  to  contain 
not  less  than  one  unit  of  agriculture,  and  as  soon  as  practicable 
two  units  of  agriculture.    It  is  suggested  that  where  desirable, 
the  services  of  the  traveling  instructors  in  agriculture,  in  item 
14  below,  be  utilized  for  this1  work. 

8.  Consolidated   rural    schools. — That    a    central    board    of 
education,  composed   of  five  members    elected    at    large,    be 
created  for  each  county,  this  board  to  have  power  in  particular, 
(a)  to  employ  a  county  superintendent  of  schools;  (b)  to  con- 
solidate school  districts  and  discontinue  schools  when  such  will 
contribute  to  the  betterment  of  education  of  the  children ;  that 
such  consolidated  schools  receive  state  aid  equal  to  that  granted 
to  state  graded  schools,  namely,  $200  per  annum  for  a  two 
department  school  and  $300  per  annum  for  a  three  department 
school;  and  that  additional  state  aid  to  an  equal  amount  be 
granted  to  those  consolidated  schools  which  introduce  not  less 
than  two   units    of   agriculture   or   agriculture   and   domestic 
economy,  provided  that  these  courses  of  study  and  the  teachers 
therein  be  approved  by  the  state  superintendent. 

9.  State   graded  schools. — That   additional   state    aid   equi- 
valent in  amount  to  that  they  now  receive  be  granted  to  such 
state  graded  schools  as  introduce  not  less  than  two  units  of 
agriculture,    or   agriculture    and    domestic    economy,   namely, 
$200  per  annum  for  a  two  department  school  and  $300  per  an- 
num  for   a  three   department    school,    provided    that    these 
courses  of  study  and  the  teachers  therein  be  approved  by  the 
state  superintendent. 

10.  Township  high  schools. — That  additional  annual  state 
aid  equal  in  amount  to  that  now  granted  for  manual  training  be 
granted  to  township  high  schools  conditional  upon  the  intro- 
duction of  not  less  than  two  units  of  agriculture  or  agriculture 
and  domestic  economy,  provided  these  courses  of  study  and  the 
teachers  therein  be  approved  by  the  state  superintendent. 


12        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

11.  Village    and    city   schools. — That    additional   state    aid 
equal  in  amount  to  that  now  granted  for  manual  training  be 
granted  to  all  village  and  city  high  schools  conditional  upon 
the  introduction  of  not  less  than  two  units  of  agriculture  or 
of   agriculture    and    domestic    economy,   provided    that   these 
courses  of  study  and  the  teachers  therein  be  approved  by  the 
state  superintendent. 

12.  County    agricultural    schools. — That    the    present    law 
pertaining   to    state    aid  for   county   agricultural  schools   be 
amended  so  as  to  change  the  amount  which  may  be  paid  by  the 
state  to  any  one  school  from  $4,000  to  $6,000;  but  with  the 
provision  that  if  more  than  $4,000  be  paid  by  the  state  that 
the  county  shall  contribute  not  less  than  an  equal  amount. 

13.  College  of  agriculture. — That  the  college  of  agriculture 
establish  a  "continuation  course"  for  the  graduates  of  the 
county  schools  of  agriculture,  to  which  those  who  have  com- 
pleted the  so-called  "short  course"  in  agriculture  may  also 
be  admitted. 

14.  Traveling  instructors  in  agriculture. — That  the  appro- 
priation for  agricultural  field  service  be  authorized  to  provide 
for  the   appointment   of  itinerant  instructors  in   agriculture, 
the  services  oH  whom  may  be  utilized  by  counties  in  various 
lines  of  agricultural  work. 


C.     GENERAL. 

15.  Minimum  salary  law. — That  a  minimum  salary  Jaw  be 
passed  which  shall  apply  to  all  teachers  in  industrial  and  agri- 
cultural  subjects,    and   which   while    placing    emphasis   upon 
thorough-going   general  training    shall    place    an    additional 
premium  upon  special  preparation  for  the  teaching  of  agri- 
cultural and  industrial  subjects. 

16.  Training  of  teachers. — That  adequate  provision  be  made 
in  some  state  institution  of  normal  school  grade  and  in  the 
county  training  schools  for  the   establishment  of  courses  of 
instruction  in  industrial  and  agricultural  education  and  the 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      13 

extension  of  courses  already  in  existence  of  a  character  that 
will  give  proper  emphasis  to  industrial  and  agricultural  train- 
ing. 

17.  Independent  high  schools, — That  the  high  schools  in 
the  state  other  than  the  free  high  schools,  commonly  known 
as  the  independent  high  schools,  shall  receive  state  aid  for 
manual  training,  agriculture,  and  domestic  economy,  to  the 
same  extent  that  state  aid  is  granted  to  free  high  schools  for 
these  purposes. 


14        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 


PART  II. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION. 

Germany .-^— Germany  started  her  present  prosperity  with 
poor  resources;  her  land  was  poor  and  for  hundreds  of 
years  the  country  was  devastated  by  wasting  wars.  The 
mineral  resources  were  slender,  the  people  were  not  trained 
as  are  the  English  by  ages  of  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial effort.  Germany  was  a  country  of  peasantry.  Yet 
by  well  directed  effort  she  changed  all  this.  '  Germany's 
present  prosperity  is  based  upon  a  purposeful  effort  to 
educate  her  people.  Her  economists  recognized  the  fact 
that  nothing  could  win  in  the  end  except  the  intelligence 
of  the  individual  man.  Says  Frank  Vanderlip:  "I  have 
made  a  somewhat  careful  study  of  Germany's  economic 
success,  and  in  doing  that  I  have  become  firmly  convinced 
that  the  explanation  of  the  remarkable  German  progress  is 
to  be  traced  in  the  most  direct  manner  to  the  German  system 
of  education.  The  schoolmaster  is  the  great  cornerstone  of 
Germany's  great  commercial  and  industrial  progress.  The 
school  system  of  Germany  bears  a  relation  to  the  economic 
situation  that  is  not  met  with  in  any  other  country."  Shad- 
well,  the  author  of  a  book  upon  industrial  efficiency,  has  made 
a  careful  study  of  the  conditions  in  America,  England  and 
Germany,  and  says:  "The  (German)  manufacturers  give  liberal 
support  to  the  schools  and  further  encourage  them  by  giving 
employment  to  the  graduates,  and  there  is  no  doubt  it  pays 
them.  A  manufacturer  in  Elberfield  was  showing  me  one 
day  a  length  of  dress  material.  'That,'  he  said,  'is  going  to 
England  and  it  is  made  of  English  stuff.  I  get  the  materials 
from  England,  manufacture  them  and  send  them  back.  I  pay 
carriage  both  ways,  and  yet  I  can  sell  this  in  English  markets. ' 
'How  can  you  manage  to  do  it?'  I  asked.  '"Well/  he  said,  'you 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.       15 

see  this  is  a  nice  design.  There  is  brains  in  it.'  It  was  a 
good  answer,  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe  the  whole  answer, 
for  it  pays  higher  wages  and  more  for  coal  than  manufacturers 
of  similar  goods  in  Yorkshire,  and  there  are  no  kartells 
(trusts)  in  the  business." 

Here,  then,  is  the  whole  German  secret — brains,  trained  in- 
telligence. The  decline  of  England  and  the  desperate  efforts 
now  being  used  by  England  to  regain  her  prestige  in  the  race 
with  Germany  for  the  commerce  of  the  world,  is  a  cause  worthy 
of  our  profound  study.  America  is  not  England,  but  neverthe- 
less the  lesson  should  not  be  lost  upon  us.  The  Englishman  has 
felt  that  England,  "somehow  or  another,"  has  always  pulled 
out  of  difficulties.  Therefore,  revelling  in  this  supposed  se- 
curity, the  English  have  not  given  sufficient  care,  until  very 
recently,  to  the  causes  of  the  enormous  success  of  Germany  in 
manufacturing  and  marketing  her  goods. 

The  startling  prevalence  of  illiteracy  in  our  own  country 
should  at  least  appeal  to  our  selfish  instincts  and  alarm  us  as 
to  business  conditions  in  the  future.  Our  American  education, 
and  our  secondary  schools  especially  have  been  our  boast; 
for  a  long  while  they  were  the  wonder  of  the  world.  The 
education  of  the  people,  "the  pride  in  the  little  red  school 
house,"  and  the  common  school  of  our  fathers  has  produced 
that  intelligence  which  has  been  the  healthy  foundation  of 
our  homes.  But  we  are  now  standing  still  in  our  own  self- 
satisfaction  wdth  the  past,  while  other  countries  are  forging- 
ahead.  Our  boasted  democratic  education  yet  leaves  much 
to  be  accomplished  if  the  statistics  we  have  quote.d  are  correct. 

The  Mosely  commission,  when  it  came  to  America,  asked 
the  question,  "How  is  it  that  the  United  States  can  afford  to 
pay  a  half  dollar  in  wages  where  we  pay  a  shilling,  and  yet 
compete  with  us  in  the  markets  of  the  world?"  With  just 
pride  we  could  give  the  answer  that  our  intelligence  enters 
into  the  process  of  production ;  that  the  intelligence  of  our 
people  (and  the  wages  which  we  pay  are  because  of  that  in- 
telligence) gives  us  our  peculiar  advantage  in  competing  for 
the  markets  of  the  world.  If  we  lose  this  relative  intelligence 
through  a  change  in  the  character  of  our  people  and  the  failure 
to  adjust  our  school  system  to  the  needs  of  the  times,  then  we 
lose  the  advantage  which  we  have  had  in  the  past.  But  a  school 


16        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

system  cannot  stand  still  any  more  than  a  business  can  stand 
still.  It  must  be  kept  up  to  date  and  must  fit  the  needs  as 
the  needs  arise,  or  else  it  must  sink  back. 

This  is  not  a  history  of  the  development  of  Germany  or  of 
the  decline  of  England.  A  discussion  of  these  topics  does  not 
belong  here.  There  are  many  causes  for  the  growth  of  prosper- 
ity of  Germany  and  for  the  failure  of  England  to  keep  pace, 
but  there  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  there  is  no  cause 
which  has  been  of  greater  significance  than  the  German  em- 
phasis upon  the  industrial  and  commercial  education.  The 
fact  that  the  Germans  are  going  into  the  commercial  markets 
and  underselling  us  is  shown  by  cold,  dry  statistics.  Their 
young  men  have  been  taught  how  to  sell  their  produce  and  to 
meet  scientifically  the  wants  of  the  world.  From  high  authority, 
we  learn  that  the  amount  of  German  sales  in  the  United  States 
has  increased  nearly  100  per  cent  since  1900;  but  to  the  Eng- 
lish colonies,  South  America,  China  and  the  entire  world,  Ger- 
man products  are  going  in  a  great  stream,  overwhelming  and 
driving  the  commerce  of  all  nations  from  the  sea. 

We  have  these  facts  before  us,  but  your  commission  has  not 
started  out  to  copy  the  methods  of  Germany;  it  has  started 
out  to  study  the  best  educational  methods  to  be  found  which 
will  in  any  way  help  us  to  better  our  conditions  here.  We  can- 
not entirely  apply  German  methods  to  our  work.  What  ap- 
pears to  the  German  as  superficial  in  our  education,  sometimes 
is  the  basis  of  that  quickness  of  comprehension,  that  intui- 
tive insight  and  readiness  which  cannot  be  replaced  by  the 
tremendous  care  and  ponderous  exactness  of  certain  German 
methods.  In  a  report  like  this  we  must  not  be  misled.  We 
must  not  forget  that  things  happen  slowly,  develop  slowty, 
and  that  peoples  differ  in  temperament.  The  psychology  and 
the  general  make-up  of  the  people,  and  the  physical  character- 
istics of  the  country  must  be  taken  into  account.  We  must 
not  impose  upon  our  state  methods  which  spoil  the  quick 
brains  and  originality  of  the  Americans,  or  which,  in  any 
way,  would  tend  to  destroy  the  good  things  which  we  have; 
but  rather  we  must  build  upon  what  we  already  have  and  add 
to  it  from  the  best  of  all  other  lands.  Despite  Germany's 
tremendous  advance,  the  past  record  of  the  American,  when  he 
is  thoroughly  aroused,  gives  ground  for  the  belief  that  he  can 


duplicate  by  ingenius  and  more  direct  methods,  at  a  far 
smaller  cost,  what  has  been  done  in  Germany.  We  have  a 
better  basis  from  which  to  start. 

The  army  drill-like  plan  of  the  German  educational  system 
will  not  succeed  in  this  country.  Leaders  of  men  are  born, 
and  cannot  be  made  by  education  alone,  but  nevertheless 
it  is  foolish  to  deny  that  the  young  American  captain  of  in- 
dustry needs  much  training  and  drill  to  supplement  his  natural 
ability  and  genius. 

Your  commission  has  found  in  Germany,  on  the  whole,  the 
most  which  is  suggestive  in  formulating  plans  to  improve  "Wis- 
consin conditions.  Knowing  that  the  time  must  necessarily  be 
short,  our  representative  confined  himself  strictly  to  the  ques- 
tions which  are  coming  up  in  our  own  state,  and  contented 
himself  with  the  examination  of  a  few  cities,  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  of  industrial  conditions  which  are  similar  to  those 
in  Wisconsin.  Knowing  that  the  subject  of  industrial  education 
in  Germany  has  often  been  described,  and  that  volumes  have 
been  issued  on  the  subject,  both  in  German  and  in  English, 
he  confined  himself  to  a  study  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
German  system  can  be  applied  to  our  conditions,  and  made 
every  effort  to  learn  how  much  of  the  system  can  be  and  how 
much  cannot  be  applied.  Our  investigator  examined  par- 
ticularly the  elements  of  success  in  the  German  system ;  the 
little  ways  of  management  and  little  points  in  organization 
which  are  so  necessary  in  the  beginning  of  a  fundamental 
movement  such  as  contemplated  by  your  commission.  He  was 
impressed  by  the  fact  that  the  German  is  a  scholar;  he  loves 
schools;  he  loves  education;  and  is  not  afraid  to  make  large 
investments  in  industrial  education.  He  was  impressed  by  the 
effort  made  by  the  Germans  to  educate  the  people  so  that  each 
man  could  fit  into  the  great  line  of  economic  progress.  The 
success  of  this  great  movement,  begun  years  ago,  is  now  felt 
in  Germany.  It  has  been  rolling  up  and  gathering  force ;  the 
investment  was  large,  but  wisely  made,  and  now  the  nation 
is  gathering  the  income. 

Heavy  investment  in  Germany.— In  considering'  the  specific 
causes  of  Germany's  educational  success  in  detail,  the  first 
point  which  astonishes  one  is  the  heavy  investment  made  in- 

2 


38        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  JTOR  THE 

industrial  education.    Suffice  it  to  say  that  nearly  every  small 
village  has  at  least   one   industrial   school,  and   often  in  small 
cities  several  are  found.     In  Hanau,  a  place  not  very  much 
Jarger  than  Madison,   there   are   5   industrial   or   commercial 
schools,  including  an    industrial    art    school    and    also  what  is 
practically  a  mechanical  engineering  school.     The  equipment 
of  some  of  these  schools   is   very    complete   and   costly,  but  in 
most  instances  it  is  very  economical  and  surprisingly  simple. 
The  buildings  are  well  adapted  to  the  work  in  hand.  Some  idea 
of  the  investment  can  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that  the  little 
province  of  Wurttemburg,  which  has  a  population  less  than 
Wisconsin   by   at   least   one-fourth   of  a  million  persons   and 
which  is  on  the  whole  a  poor,  hilly  country  with  very  poor 
transportation    facilities,  has,  besides    its    splendid  system    of 
•elementary  and  secondary  schools,  about  250  industrial  schools 
in  its  towns  and  villages,  1  knitting  school,  3  weaving  schools, 
2   industrial   work  shops   for   actual   practice   in   weaving,   2 
technical  schools  for  textile  and  mechanical  work,  a  large  state 
university,    a    technical    university,    a    royal    building    trade 
school   (a  trade  school  for  building  purposes),  a -great  com- 
mercial  college,   several   commercial   improvement   schools,   a 
:  great   agricultural  school,   many  farming  schools,   similar   to 
-our  county  agricultural  schools  here,  an  art  trade  school  for 
industrial  art,  a  pure  art  school  and  many  miscellaneous  schools 
•of  all  kinds  for  workmen  of  various  grades,  evening  schools, 
continuation  schools,  etc.,  including  schools  in  domestic  econo- 
my for  women.    The  tremendous  investment  made  by  this  little 
province  is  far  beyond  anything  of  which  we,  in  our  prosperity, 
have  thought. 

The  same  thing  can  be  found  in  nearly  all  the  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe  today.  France  is  full  of  state  supported  in- 
dustrial high  schools,  commercial  institutes,  and  industrial 
schools  of  various  kinds.  The  investment  of  the  different  cities 
of  Switzerland  and  Belgium  has  been  tremendous. 

In  one  of  these  schools  in  Munich,  our  investigator  found 
equipment  and  work-shops  in  the  following  work:  electric  mo- 
tive power;,  electric  lighting;  locksmith  and  machine  forging; 
book  printing  and  lithography;  cabinet  makng;  stucco  work; 
carving;  chain  making;  metal  work ;  plumbing  fittings ;  tinsmith 
work,  and  photography.  There  are  in  Munich  about  sixty 
continuation  classes.  A  great  many  industrial  schools  are 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      19 

maintained  both  by  the  city  of  Munich  and  by  the  kingdom 
-of  Bavaria. 

The  amount  of  money  invested  in  these  schools  shows  that 
these  countries  realize  the  importance  of  this  work,  and  are 
not  afraid  to  invest  in  it,  as  the  results  obtained  have  been 
so  wonderful.  They  are  not  waiting  for  something  to  happen 
.and  endeavoring  to  remedy  conditions  at  heavy  cost  as  the 
English  and  the  Americans  seem  to  think  the  right  way  to  do. 
They  are  investing  heavily  for  the  future. 

Practical  nature  of  the  work. — Almost  without  exception 
there  is  in  Germany  a  correlation  between  the  industrial  con- 
ditions in  the  cities  or  towns  in  which  these  schools  exist 
.and  the  industrial  schools.  In  fact,  it  is  impossible  to  define 
exactly  a  German  industrial  school;  each  city  meets  the 
problem  differently;  each  tries  to  adapt  the  teaching  to  its 
own  needs  and  sometimes  the  curriculum  in  a  school  in  a  certain 
village  is  entirely  different  from  that  in  every  other  community. 
The  schools  are  a  striking  reflex  of  the  industrial  conditions 
of  the  communities  in  which  they  are  found.  The  reason  for 
this  can  no  doubt  be  found  in  the  gradual  growth  of  these 
•schools  and  in  the  masterly  way  in  which  the  German  has  de- 
termined to  make  them  meet  the  wants  of  the  great  masses 
of  the  people.  Instead  of  starting  with  a  few  costly  trade 
and  technical  schools  as  we  have  done  in  America,  they  have  en- 
couraged a  gradual  growth  in  the  entire  field  of  industrial  edu- 
cation, and  they  have  put  the  emphasis  upon  the  average  man 
of  an  industry  and  upon  the  teaching  of  the  average  workman 
at  the  bench  or  at  the  machine.  They  have  realized  that  the 
•success  of  an  enterprise  depends  in  the  long  run  upon  the  men 
in  the  ranks,  and  that  in  ages  gone  by,  other  nations 
have  not  met  success  by  merely  educating  a  few  at  the 
top  and  neglecting  the  men  in  the  ranks.  They  have 
realized  that  such  an  education  has  not  brought  the  re- 
sults that  it  should;  that  the  various  civilizations  of  the 
past  have  declined  because  the  average  man  has  not  received 
the  help  he  deserved.  The  great  German  statesmen  and  econo- 
mists have  evidently  been  wise  in  their  selection  of  remedies 
for  their  condition.  They  are  now  putting  as  much  strength 
into  building  up  the  average  man — the  average  workman — as 
in  building  up  the  higher  education,  although  the  investment 


i'O        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

in.  higher  institutions  is  as  great  in  proportion  as  ours,  if  not 
greater.  The  technical  schools  of  collegiate  grade  are  splendid, 
yet  is  is  to  these  miscellaneous  continuation  schools  that  Ger- 
many owes  a  great  measure  of  her  success. 

Continuation  schools. — Your  commission  believes  that  it  is 
the  German  industrial  continuation  school  which  especially 
deserves  its  study.  Having  considered  the  statistics  showing 
the  percentage  of  children  who  are  to  be  fitted  for  industrial 
life  in  America,  your  commission  believes  that  its  greatest 
effort  lies  in  doing  something  where  nothing  has  been  done — in 
meeting  in  some  way,  however  meager,  the  immediate  wants  of 
the  many.  The  German  continuation  school  is  made  possible  by 
the  fact  that  practically  everyone  is  compelled  to  go  to  school 
until  he  is  14  years  of  age;  from  14  to  18  he  is  compelled  to 
go  to  school  a  certain  portion  of  his  time.  This  would  average 
perhaps  a  day  in  a  week.  He  may  go  to  school  in  some  places 
from  4  to  6  in  the  afternoon ;  in  other  places  and  other  trades, 
2  mornings  a  week,  and  in  still  other  places  (and  this  is  the 
popular  way)  he  may  go  to  school  for  1  day  in  a  week;  but 
he  must  go  to  school.  The  reason  for  this  is  the  sensible  way 
in  which  the  Germans  have  studied  out  a  plan  for  replacing 
the  apprenticeship  system,  now  worn  out  because  of  the  growth 
of  the  modern  factory  system  and  the  minute  division  of 
labor  entailed  by  this  system.  Formerly  a  man  could  leara 
shoemaking;  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  shoemaker  for  3  to  4 
years  and  taught  his  trade.  Now  there  are  many  distinct 
processes  in  shoemaking  and  the  result  is  that  the  workman 
who  is  learning  one  of  these  processes,  does  not  learn  the  others, 
and  consequently  is  thrown  out  of  work  with  any  change  in 
that  particular  process.  Perhaps  he  is  thrown  out  of  work  just 
at  the  time  when  he  is  supporting  a  family  or  trying  to  pay  a 
mortgage  on  a  little  home.  The  Germans,  taking  the  remnants 
of  the  apprentice  system,  which  of  course  still  exists  here  and 
there,  have  added  to  it  the  continuation  school. 

The  apprentice  in  the 'jewelry  firm  begins  work,  we  will  sayr 
at  14  years  of  age.  On  Friday  or  Saturday  he  has  to  go  to- 
school.  In  that  school  he  may  have  one  hour  of  German, 
one  hour  of  free  hand  drawing,  one  hour  of  plastic  design, 
one  hour  of  commercial  geography  and,  in  general,  everything" 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      21 

which  will  give  him  a  broad  view  of  the  other  departments 
of  the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged.  If  he  is  a  merchant's 
clerk,  he  may  be  given  a  course  in  a  mercantile  continuation 
school,  which  would  teach  him  how  to  buy  and  sell,  do  ac- 
counting and  to  understand  the  general  features  of  a  thorough 
commercial  education.  Everything  is  applied  directly  to  the 
business  in  which  he  finds  himself,  and  which  perhaps  in  his 
own  town  or  village  is  a  specialty.  For  instance,  the  city  of 
Hanau  is  largely  engaged  in  jewelry  work,  and  here  instruction 
in  selling  jewelry  and  the  manufacture  of  jewelry  is  the  chief 
work  of  the  continuation  school.  Continuous  classes  are  held 
in  most  cases  so  that  in  the  industrial  school  where  boys  be- 
tween 14  and  20  years  of  age  and  even  men  up  to  25 
•or  30  go  to  school  from  2  to  4  years  to  learn  trades, 
there  are  also  many  boys  coming  in  every  day  of  the 
week  from  different  manufacturing  establishments.  Even- 
ing classes  are  also  held,  but  if  a  boy  goes  to  an  even- 
ing class,  the  manufacturer  is  compelled  to  allow  him  a 
certain  number  of  hours  each  day  away  from  his  work, 
•so  that  the  total  number  of  hours  for  the  evening  school  and 
day  work  is  not  greater  than  one  day's  work.  This  is  also  the 
law  in  Scotland.  The  classes  are  small  in  these  schools,  and 
the  "task"  system  is  so  used  that  a  class  may  include  one  boy 
who  is  doing  very  elementary  work,  and  another  who  is 
finishing  the  highest  task  given  by  the  teacher.  The  consider- 
ation of  these  questions  and  their  application  to  the  con- 
ditions in  Wisconsin  will  be  taken  up  later. 

The  following  is  a  brief  abstract  of  the  imperial  law  of  June 
1,  1891,  relating  to  the  establishment  and  regulation  of  these 
schools  in  Germany.  It  is  taken  from  a  bulletin  prepared  by 
Arthur  J.  Jones  for  the  United  States  department  of  educa- 
tion. 

"Sec.  120.  The  masters  in  any  branch  of  industry  are 
bound  hereby,  in  the  case  of  their  workers  under  the  age 
of  18  who  attend  an  institution  recognized  by  the  authori- 
ties of  their  district  or  their  state  as  a  continuation  school, 
to  allow  them  the  time' fixed  as  necessary  for  such  institu- 
tion by  the  authorities.  *  *  *  Through  the  ordinance 
of  a  district  council  or  any  wider  communal  body,  attend- 
ance at  a  continuation  school  may  be  made  obligatory  for 
all  male  workers  under  the  age  of  18.  In  the  same  way. 


22        KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

proper  regulations  may  be  made  to  secure  the  execution 
of  such  an  ordinance.  In  particular,  regulations  may  be 
passed  to  insure  regular  attendance  and  to  determine  the 
duties  of  parents  or  employers  in  this  respect,  and  notices 
may  be  issued  by  which  organizations  in  the  continuation 
school  and  a  proper  relation  of  the  scholars  to  it  may  be  as- 
sured. From  the  compulsory  attendance  based  on  such  an 
ordinance  are  exempted  only  those  persons  who  attend 
another  continuation  or  technical  school,  provided  that  the 
instruction  given  in  such  school  be  recognized  by  the 
higher  authorities  as  a  complete  equivalent  for  that  given 
in  the  general  continuation  school  (allgemeine  Fortbil- 
dungschule)  *  *  * 

' '  Sec.  150.  A  breach  of  section  120  of  this  law  i's  punish- 
able by  a  fine  of  not  exceeding  20  marks,  or,  in  case  of 
non-payment  of  such  fine,  by  imprisonment  for  a  term  not 
exceeding  three  days." 

The  law  is  not  compulsory  in  the  whole  empire,  but  allows 
every  division  to  establish  this  system.  The  result  is  that  the 
continuation  schools  are  much  more  highly  developed  in  Bava- 
ria or  Wurttemburg  than  in  Prussia. 

The  manner  in  which  these  schools  touch  every  phase  of  life 
can  be  comprehended  by  a  glance  at  the  following  tables  of 
schools  in  Munich  taken  from  the  second  annual  report  of  the- 
commission  of  industrial  education  of  Massachusetts: 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      23- 


I.     LIEBHERRSCHULE    (UNITED  TRADE   CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS). 


Industry 


Number  of 
classes 


Hours  per 
week 


Period  of 

required 

school  work 

(Years) 


Bookbinder   

Turner    . . . , 

Druggist,  sundries    and   colors 

Glazier    

Chimney    sweep 

Coachman    

Stone   and  brick  mason 

Saddler  and  trunk  maker 

Cooper 

Lockmaker  (building  and  artistic  locks). 

Smith    

Joiner  (building  and  cabinet  maker) 

Upholsterer   and  decorator 

Potter  and  stove  builder 

Watchmaker 

Wheelwright   

Carpenter   


7 
7V2 


7% 


8 
7% 


3 

SVz 

3 

4 

3 

3 


24        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 


II.    PRANCKSCHULE    (UNITED    TRADE    CONTINUATION    SCHOOLS). 


Industry 

Number  of 
classes 

Hours  per 
week 

Period  of 
required 
school  work 
(Years) 

•Bookprinter   and  typesetter            .     . 

10 

9 

4 

Lithographer-Lithographic   printer  

4 

9 

4 

Machinist    (iron    turner,    iron    moulder,    boiler 
maker,    machinery    blacksmith,    and    pattern 
maker)     

11 

10 

4 

Mechanician    (electrician,    worker    on    light    or 
heavy  machinery,   optician) 

13 

13 

4 

Metal   caster    and    chain    maker    (also    chaser, 
metal  turner,  metal  grinder  and  modeler)  

Photographer  and  zinc  plate  worker 

6 
3 

8 
10 

4 
3 

Lockmaker   (building    and    artistic   locks)  

6 

9 

3 

-Joiner  (building  and  furniture) 

3 

9 

3 

Plumber,  fitter,  metal  turner  

6 

8 

3 

Stucco  worker  or  ornamental  sculptor 

3 

9 

4 

Tinsmith    

1 

8 

3 

III.    ELIZABETHSCHULE    (UNITED   TRADE    CONTINUATION   SCHOOLS). 


Industry 

Number  of 
classes 

Hours  per 
week 

Period  of 
required 
school  work 
(Years) 

Coppersmith     

3 

10 

3l/2 

Lockmaker   (building  and  artistic  locks)  
Joiner  (building  and  furniture)  

3 
3 

9 
9 

3 
3 

IV.     GOTZINGERSOHULE   (UNITED  TRADE   CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS). 


Industry 

Number  of 

classes 

Hours  per 
week 

Period  of 
required 
school  work 
(Years) 

Lockm 
Joiner 

aker   (building   and  artistic  locks)  
(building   and   furniture)  

3 
3 

9 
9 

3 
3 

EXTENSION  OF  INDUS/TRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      25- 


DETACHED  TRADE   CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS. 


Industry 


Number  of 
classes 


Hours  per 
week 


Period  of 

required 

school  work 

(Tears) 


Bather,   barber,  wig  maker 6 

Baker    9 

Fresco   painter,    varnisher 12 

Gardener  

Hotel  keeper  (including  hotel  carving) 10 

Wood    carver 1 

Jeweler,  gold  and  silver  worker. 

Merchant    27 

Confectioner,   pastry   cook 3 

Butcher    4 

Tailor  7 

Clerk  and  office  assistant 2 

Shoemaker 

Gilder 2 

Dental  worker  ..  2 


7% 

7 

8 


The  course  of  study  in  the  industrial  continuation  schools  for 
machinists'  apprentices  in  Munich  is  as  follows: 


Subjects. 


Hours  of  Instruction 


Class  I 


Class  II   Class  III   Class  IV 


Religion  

Trade  calculation  and  bookkeeping 

Business  composition  and  reading 

Studies  of  life  and  citizenship 

Mechanical  drawing  

Physics    and  mechanics , 

Machinery  

Materials  and  shop  work 


26        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

In  the  begining,  only  a  few  of  these  classes  were  organized 
.as  the  need  became  evident.  There  always  remained  boys  in 
unskilled  or  miscellaneous  work.  General  continuation  classes 
were  founded  for  them,  and  as  courses  could  be  provided  for 
special  trades  or  pursuits,  separate  courses  were  instituted  for 
such  trades  or  pursuits.  Those  who  remained  in  the  general 
courses,  were  given  general  manual  training,  literature,  arith- 
metic, citizenship,  etc.  Schools  of  like  nature  exist  for  girls, 
and  special  classes  have  been  rapidly  organized  in  the  different 
work  in  which  the  girls  are  employed.  Above  the  continuation 
course  are  a  great  variety  of  schools,  lower  industrial  schools, 
middle  industrial  schools,  higher  industrial  schools,  and  special 
schools  of  all  ranks  and  descriptions,  apparently  not  strictly 
classified  and  differing  in  curriculum  and  standard  from  city 
to  city  and  from  division  to  division  of  the  empire,  making  a 
whole,  great,  irregular,  democratic  educational  system,  fitted  to 
the  needs  of  the  different  localities  in  a  wonderful  manner,  and 
meeting  the  conditions  much  better  than  if  they  were  regularly 
classified  and  standardized. 

Administration. — After  a  very  severe  trial,  reaching  over  a 
period  of  years,  it  was  found  that  the  inevitable  tendency  of  all 
industrial  schools  was  to  become  theoretical  and  to  turn  out 
theoretical  students  rather  than  practical  men  who  would  be 
of  use  in  building  up  the  industrial  resources  and  commercial 
prosperity  of  the  country.  The  history  of  this  education  in 
Germany  shows  that  the  attitude  of  mind  of  the  ordinary  school 
teacher  does  not  allow  him  to  take  hold  of  this  problem  and 
work  it  out  as  it  should  be  worked  out.  It  is  necessary  to  have 
some  check  upon  his  theoretical  inclinations  and  to  give  some 
aid  to  him  in  the  practical  solution  of  industrial  questions. 

After  a  long  period  of  trial,  the  Germans  have  established 
almost  universally  local  committees  of  business  men,  manufac- 
turers and  workmen  who  control  these  schools,  wherever  they 
are.  The  result  is  that  the  manufacturers  and  the  working 
people  take  the  utmost  pride  and  interest  in  these  schools,  and 
watch  closely  their  development.  They  are  naturally  looking 
after  their  own  interest,  and  in  so  doing  help  the  industries  in 
which  they  are  engaged.  In  talking  with  the  heads  of  the  in- 
dustrial schools  in  Germany  one  is  impressed  by  the  fact  that 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      27 

these  men  always  say  that  if  the  employers  would  only  allow 
them  to  have  the  boys  for  full  time  or  have  them  for  longer  peri- 
ods and  would  not  interfere  so  much  with  the  management  of 
the  school,  that  they  could  do  splendid  work.  Of  course  it  be- 
comes apparent  after  careful  examination  that  their  complaint 
is  groundless.  The  general  history  of  indusrial  education  in  this 
country,  as  well  as  the  German  experience,  shows  us  that  if 
these  schools  are  all  put  on  a  full  time  basis,  the  boy  who  works 
in  the  factory  and  earns  his  living  after  he  is  14  years  of  age 
is  gradually  crowded  out  and  schools  are  formed  which  turn 
out  engineers  as  professional  or  cultured  men,  but  which  do  not 
.meet  the  needs  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  If  these  were 
all  full  time  schools  and  the  principals  allowed  to  do  as  they 
pleased,  the  schools  would  not  meet  the  demand  as  they  do  now ; 
they  would  not  reach  as  many  boys.  It  is  far  better  to  have 
the  management  of  the  schools  in  the  hands  of.  the  employers 
.and  employees  than  to  be  hampered  by  the  theoretical  stand- 
point which  inevitably  would  result  if  the  teachers  or  school 
men  had  it  all  in  their  own  hands. 

Of  course  there  is  this  tendency;  if  the  practical  men 
control  it  entirely  they  will  work  with  purely  commercial 
motives,  will  not  be  far-seeing,  and  will  be  tempted  to  get  quick 
results  rather  than  to  build  deep  foundations.  Nevertheless, 
so  strong  has  been  the  tendency  to  theorize  in  this  work  that  the 
manufacturers  and  employers  of  Germany  just  barely  hold  their 
own  in  keeping  the  teaching  from  becoming  too  theoretical. 
Even  with  these  precautions  and  all  these  checks,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  if  there  is  a  fault  with  the  splendid  system,  it  is  011 
the  side  of  too  much  attention  to  theoretical  and  technical 
work.  There  is  a  constant  pull  in  that  direction,  and  the  only 
thing  that  has  saved  the  plan  has  been  the  great,  sound,  com- 
mon sense  of  employers  and  employees. 

Teachers. — Another  great  element  in  the  success  of  this  work 
is  the  kind  of  teachers  employed.  Formerly,  before  any  atten- 
tion was  given  to  the  fitting  of  teachers  for  this  work,  teachers 
from  the  ordinary  schools  were  employed  and  the  result  was 
not  good.  The  securing  of  teachers  well  grounded  in  new 
methods  was  one  of  the  hardest  tasks  in  the  entire  German  in- 
dustrial education  scheme.  It  has  not  yet  been  settled.  It  was 
to  get  teachers  of  manual  training  with  pedagogic  ideas, 


28        KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

but  it  was  hard  to  get  practical  workers  who  could  teach 
practical  things.  The  practical  worker  was  not  always 
a  good  teacher.  Every  means  has  been  used  to  get  the 
right  kind  of  teachers.  Very  wisely  indeed  the  Germans 
have  paid  the  teachers  in  this  work  higher  wages  than 
teachers  of  similar  grades  in  the  other  schools;  they  have 
laid  the  stress  and  emphasis  upon  this  work.  In  almost 
every  place  one  sees  men  teaching  in  these  schools  who 
are  really  artists  in  their  work;  the  committees  of  manufac- 
turers and  employers  see  to  it  that  this  is  the  case.  A  theoreti- 
cal or  unfit  teacher  has  a  hard  time  of  it  under  the  sharp  and 
vigilant  eyes  of  these  local  committees.  Special  inducements 
have  been  held  out  for  good  workmen;  private  rooms  have 
been  furnished  in  the  schools  where  they  can  carry  on  their  re- 
searches in  chemistry;  where  they  can  design  new  patterns  in 
fabrics;  where  they  can  work  in  the  arts  and  crafts  or  sciences, 
or  where  they  can  manufacture  beautiful  ware  or  design  indus- 
trial patterns  for  themselves.  Every  man  has,  in  fact,  a  studio. 
Recently,  special  schools  for  teachers  in  industrial  teaching 
have  been  founded,  where  men  and  women  are  specially  trained. 
The  Germans  have  realized  that  after  all  it  is  the  trained  per- 
sonality that  does  everything.  It  is  not  the  equipment,  but  it 
is  the  person;  it  is  not  the  building,  but  the  human  being  who 
makes  the  things,  and  the  human  element  in  this  would  mean 
success  in  Germany  even  if  the  huge  equipment  and  investment 
did  not  exist. 

Task  system.— There  is  another  element  which  has  been 
neglected  by  most  of  the  investigators  of  the  German  industrial 
educational  system.  That  is  the  "task  system"  which  is  in 
vogue  there.  Small  classes  of  from  16  to  20  are  usual,  and  the 
"tasks"  are  assigned  for  each  member  in  the  class.  All  who 
are  prepared  alike  begin  at  the  same  "task."  If  a  boy  has  but 
one  day  in  the  week  in  which  to  do  his  work,  he  can  come  in 
and  work  at  his  "task."  It  may  be  that  he  has  to  make  a 
piece  of  stucco  design  work;  when  he  has  finished  that,  he 
will  go  on  to  the  next  "task."  Eight  beside  him  in  the  room 
are  men  who  are  perhaps  working  every  day,  learning  a  trade 
in  the  trade  school.  These  men  of  course  have  many  more 
"tasks"  completed  than  the  part  time  student  but  are  under 
the  same  teacher.  Perhaps  some  one  is  working  a  few  hours 
at  night  or  some  part  of  the  day.  One  man  may  be  working 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      29 

.at  "task"  number  3,  another  at  "task"  number  20,  another  at 
"task"  number  60,  but  16  of  these  men  constitute  1  class  under 
1  teacher.  It  is  a  question  of  individual  ability  and  the  number 
of  tasks  completed  rather  than  a  question  of  a  certain  amount 
-of  time  put  in  to  advance  a  grade.  The  whole  thing  adds  to 
the  simplicity  and  economy  of  management.  In  the  small  vil- 
lage, instead  of  having  1  evening  school,  1  art  school  or  1  in- 
dustrial school,  these  are  all  combined  in  1  building  and  the 
only  division  is  the  division  of  time  of  the  teacher  or  teachers 
who  oversee  the  different  kinds  of  work  in  the  building. 

How  can  German  methods  be  applied  in  Wisconsin? — All  o± 
the  foregoing  is  descriptive.  It  is  the  summarized  statement 
of  what  actually  exists  in  a  foreign  country.  It  has  no  merit 
over  reports  which  have  come  out  upon  this  subject  except  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  summarized.  Can  we  take  the  methods  which 
have  been  found  successful  in  these  other  countries  and  apply 
them  to  our  state  ? 

There  is  no  doubt  that  we  have  different  conditions  in  Wis- 
consin from  those  in  Germany,  but  there  are  certain  elements 
in  our  life  in  Wisconsin  which  are  not  so  very  different  from 
those   in  that   country.     Germany  was   originally   a  farming 
country;  it  had  to  undergo  a  very  great  change  in  order  to 
become  a  great  manufacturing  country,  as  well  as  a  farming 
country.     We  in  Wisconsin  are  developing  our  manufactures 
.as  well  as  our  agriculture ;  we  have  much  of  the  German  blood 
in  our  population;  we  have  a  growth  of  small  manufacturing 
villages  where  many  of  the  farmers'  sons  are  being  turned 
into  workmen  in  the  factories.    Wisconsin  is  gradually  becom- 
ing a  state  of  small  manufacturing  towns  with  a  population 
-either  German  or  Scandinavian  for  the  most  part,  which  have 
grown  up  around  small  factories.    Our  problem,  then,  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  Germany  40  or  50  years  ago.    We  find  that 
there  are  few  evening  schools  in  Wisconsin ;  we  find  that  there 
are  at  least  104,000  illiterates  in  our  state,  a  large  part  of  them 
recent  immigrants;  we  have  but  2  public  schools  teaching  for 
industrial  employment  other  than  agriculture;  we  have  many 
private  business  colleges,  we  have  business  training  of  a  cer 
tain  kind  in  our  high  schools,  and  we  have  some  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
evening  classes ;  but  on  the  whole,  this  vast  field  of  industrial 
education  has  been  neglected.    It  is  true  we  have  the  compul- 


30        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

sory  school  law,  passed  a  short  time  ago,  which  compels  attend- 
ance up  to  14  years  of  age.  This  law  is  not  yet  working  as 
it  should  be,  but  we  have  found  that  it  is  of  %  great  service 
to  us.  If  we  did  not  have  compulsory  education  in  this  state, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  we  should  not  have  so  many  children 
in  school  as  we  now  have.  But  the  Germans  have  recognized 
that  if  it  is  proper  to  use  compulsion  up  to  14  years  of  age, 
it  should  also  be  used  beyond  14,  if  idleness  and  unemploy- 
ment are  to  stop,  if  the  formation  of  drifting,  masterless  groups 
of  men  such  as  one  sees  already  in  England  is  going  to  be 
prevented.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  learn  the  lesson,  but  there 
is  no  escape  from  it. 


EXISTING  REMEDIES. 

Manual  training. — A  consideration  of  manual  training  in 
this  connection  is  demanded.  The  introduction  of  manual 
training  into  the  high  school  in  Massachusetts  in  1874  was- 
thought  at  that  time  to  be  a  great  progressive  step  in  the  field 
of  industrial  education,  and  no  doubt  it  was ;  but  nevertheless 
it  has  failed  to  accomplish  what  was  fully  expected  of  it  in 
that  it  has  not  provided  industrial  education.  Manual  train- 
ing in  the  high  schools  has  served  its  educational  purposes  but 
has  entirely  failed  to  give  industrial  training. 

Massachusetts  has  carried  on  evening  classes  for  a  long  time 
with  some  kind  of  success,  and  there  are  thousands  of  men  in 
America  who  owe  all  they  have  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
able  to  attend  such  classes  in  the  cities  in  the  East.  In 
Wisconsin  we  have  few  evening  classes,  and  we  have  be- 
gun in  a  crude  manner  to  build  up  manual  training  an'd 
domestic  science  in  our  schools,  and  we  have  also  a  few  agri- 
cultural schools.  Can  we  follow  Massachusetts  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  continuation  schools  and  industrial  schools  similar 
to  those  in  Germany?  "Whether  the  state  of  Wisconsin  can  do 
this  or  not  is  a  matter  for  us  to  discuss.  Massachusetts  is  a 
closely  knit  manufacturing  state,  much  older  than  ours,  and 
perhaps  we  cannot  hope  to  do  at  once  all  that  has  been  done 
by  that  state.  But  your  commission  believes  that  it  has  worked 
out  a  plan  by  which  we  can  make  a  beginning  in  this  state. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      31 

Wisconsin  agricultural  schools. — Strange  as  it  may  seem,  we 
have  done  as  much  for  this  state  through  certain  kinds  of 
industrial  education  as  has  Germany.  "We  have,  in  Wisconsin, 
industrial  education  as  good  as  that  now  existing  in  Germany, 
which  furnishes  us  a  model  and  in  some  ways  a  solution  of 
the  whole  question.  Certainly  there  is  not  any  industrial 
education  in  Germany  which  has  been  more  effective  than  has 
our  agricultural  education.  Considering  it  for  a  moment,  let 
us  examine  its  elements  of  success.  Compare  them  with  the 
elements  of  success  which  we  have  stated  as  being  the  basic 
conditions  of  German  industrial  education. 

We  find  first  that  there  is  a  tremendous  investment  in  agri- 
cultural education,  made  up  partly  by  local  government,  partly 
by  state  government  and  partly  by  federal  government.  There 
is  at  least  $325,000  a  year  spent  in  agricultural  education  in 
the  state  of  Wisconsin.  The  agricultural  college  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Wisconsin  has  given  a  long  course  in  agriculture  for 
nearly  40  years  and  a  short  course  for  at  least  20  years.  At 
present  this  investment,  together  with  the  equipment  of  5  agri- 
cultural trade  schools  as  we  may  call  them,  or  county  agricul- 
tural schools,  goes  well  into  a  million  dollars.  The  result  of 
this  has  been  prosperity  for  the  farmers  of  our  state.  Invest- 
ment is  evidently  one  element  of  success. 

Forces  similar  to  those  which  make  for  success  in  Germany 
are  in  existence  here.  The  men  in  the  agricultural  experiment 
station  of  our  agricultural  college  in  the  University  do  practical 
work  and  devote  all  their  time  to  it.  We  have  excellent  teach- 
ers but  these  men  are  investigators  as  well  as  teachers.  As  the 
Germans  have  worked  through  separate  trade  schools  and 
separate  industrial  education  systems,  we  have  established  a 
separate  division  of  the  University  for  this  work  and  separate- 
agricultural  schools.  We  have  had  practically  a  separate  ad- 
ministration and  separate  funds  for  our  agricultural  college; 
we  have  done  an  immense  amount  of  research  work  and  we 
have  paid  our  agricultural  teachers  well.  Still  another  ele- 
ment similar  to  the  German  plan  is  the  paj*t  time  system  at 
the  university, — the  short  course  in  agriculture  which  has 
turned  out  the  farmers  in  this  state.  These  short  courses  have 
been  practically  continuation  schools.  Boys  have  come  into 
these  schools  who  are  actually  farmers,  and  have  learned  how 


32        KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

"to  solve  their  problems.  The  only  element  which  the  Germans 
have  which  we  have  not  is  that  of  compulsion.  If  we  had 
^compulsion  and  if  we  had  more  classes  in  agriculture  and  a 
greater  number  of  agricultural  schools  in  this  state,  and  if 
greater  emphasis  were  placed  upon  the  commercial  and  busi- 
ness side  of  agriculture,  there  is  no  doubt  that  we  could  do 
for  agriculture  in  this  state  as  much  as  Denmark  has  done. 
It  is  only  a  question  of  investment,  of  right  methods,  of  teach- 
ers, of  practical  work;  all  these  things  have  been  essential 
to  our  success  here,  and  they  teach  us  that  the  elements  of 
success  in  Germany  are  very  much  the  same  as  the  elements 
of  success  here.  What  has  been  successfully  done  in  agricul- 
ture may  also  be  successfully  done  in  industry  and  in  business 
•in  general  if  the  plan  is  carefully  worked  out.  There  is  no  use 
trying  to  do  for  business  and  manufactures  of  this  state  what 
we  have  done  for  agriculture  unless  we  adopt  to  a  large  extent 
the  same  methods.  We  must  make  the  investment,  we  must 
have  high  class  teachers,  we  must  have  the  practical  point  of 
view,  we  must  make  the  same  practical  experiments  and  re- 
search, and  we  must  meet  the  demand  wherever  it  may  lead  us. 

Compulsory  industrial  training  until  16  years. — To  make  the 

whole  system  efficient,  to  get  it  in  working  order  as  quickly  as 

possible  to  meet  the  conditions  in  our  state,  we  must  use  -  to 

:  some  extent  in  industrial  and  commercial  education  in  addition 

to  the  methods  used  in  the  agricultural  work,  the  system  of 

•  compulsion  which  the  Germans  have  used.    The  opposition  will 

•  come  and  the  difficulty  will  begin,  right  at  this  point.    A  keen 
analysis,  however,  will  show  the  necessity  of  compulsion.    The 
artisan  in  the  factory  is  not  on  the  same  economic  basis  as  the 
farmer's  son;  he  exists  under  conditions  which  are  not  similar 
to  those  of  the  farmer.    The  farm  is  often  a  school  in  itself ;  the 
'.factory  leads  to  physical  degeneration  and  artificial  conditions 
-of  life.     The  farm  boy  does  not  need  the  compulsory  education 

to  the  same  degree  as  does  the  boy  in  the  factory.     We  have  al- 
ready recognized  this  fact  by  exempting  the   farm  boy  from 

<  our  present  compulsory  education  law. 

However  distasteful  compulsion  may  seem  to  us,   (and  it  is 

-distasteful  both  to  the  English  and  to  Americans)  we  can- 
not allow  the  young  boys  who  are  coming  out  of  school  now  at 
14  years  of  age  to  drift  into  offices  as  messenger  boys  or  errand 

'boys  and  drift  along  into  one  unskilled  occupation  after  another 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUS-TRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      33 

until  they  finally  fall  into  the  great  unemployed  class.  The  boy 
on  the  farm  has  something  to  look  to  compared  with  the  boy  who 
goes  out  of  school  at  14  in  a  factory  town.  "What  has  he  before 
him?  If  he  learns  a  trade  it  is  nearly  always,  under  present 
conditions,  only  part  of  a  trade.  All  authorities  agree  that  there 
is  scarcely  anything  for  him  between  14  and  16  years  of  age 
except  desultory,  unskilled  work.  He  is. not  physically  strong 
enough  to  begin  apprenticeship  in  a  great  many  trades;  he  ill 
drifting  along  with  the  tide ;  the  doors  to  the  future  are  closed 
to  him;  he  is  up  a  " blind  alley."  He  has  to  take  what  he  can 
get,  and  that  does  not  mean  real  instruction,  stimulus  or  prog- 
ress. The  English  are  trying  to  delude  themselves  with  the  idea 
that  they  can  accomplish  what  the  Germans  have  accomplished 
without  compulsion.  They  point  to  their  evening  classes,  but 
in  our  consideration  of  the  evening  classes  of  England  it  will 
be  seen  that  they'  are  not  taking  the  proper  steps  to  correct 
this  evil,  that  England  is  overcrowded  with  drifting  boys  and 
girls,  and  that  poverty,  idleness  and  lax  morality  are  in- 
creasing. The  wisest  minds  in  England  are  just  beginning 
to  comprehend  that  compulsion  must  be  used.  All  other 
means  have  failed.  We  must  not  make  this  mistake  here ; 
we  must  meet  the  question  fairly  in  all  justice  to  our 
children  and  in  all  justice  to  the  economic  welfare  of 
our  state.  Far  better  is  it  for  the  state  to  use  compulsion 
and  see  to  it  that  the  boys  between  14  and  16,  at  least,  go  io 
school  a  certain  number  of  hours  a  week,  as  under  the  Germafc. 
continuation  school  plan,  so  that  they  will  be  compelled  to  learn 
the  broader  aspects  of  the  business  into  which  they  drift, 
so  that  they  will  learn  some  of  their  duties  to  the  state  and 
some  general  skill  which  will  prepare  them  either  for  apprentice 
courses  or  for  whatever  work  may  come  up  in  the  future.  We 
must  not  allow  them  to  drift,  but  rather  guide  them  into  habits 
of  industry  and  point  the  way  to  remunerative  and  healthful 
work  fitted  to  their  ability.  We  must  open  the  doors  of  oppor- 
tunity before  them;  we  must  save  these  two  years  at  least  from 
exploitation  and  waste. 

Although  it  is  well  established  that  the  boys  between  14  and 
18  in  trade  industries  are  of  relatively  little  economic  use,  yet 
statistics  show  that  they  are  in  such  industries  in  minor  places, 
and  that  their  numbers  are  still  on  the  increase.  The  high 
school  will  not  solye  the  problem,  It  is  well  known  bv  fathers 
3 


34    -   REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

and  mothers  in  industrial  cities  that  if  a  boy  goes  to  the  high 
school  until  17  or  18  years  of  age  and  then  graduates,  he  seldom 
goes  into  industrial  employments.  He  feels  above  work  in  the 
factories  or  the  learning  of  a  trade ;  he  has  gone  by  the  psycho- 
logical, critical  period,  when  he  should  begin  a  trade.  He  has 
not  money  enough  to  go  to  college.  Such  children  form  a  dis- 
contented, useless  element.  The  fathers  and  mothers  have 
learned  this  in  factory  towns  and  now  they  are  putting  their 
children  to  work"  as  soon  as  they  get  through  the  common  schools, 
which  is  usually  between  14  and  16  years  of  age. 

The  state  of  Wisconsin  should  have  for  its  aim,  the  adoption 
of  the  "Scotch  law"  as  soon  as  adjustments  can  be  made  locally 
and  schools  provided;  that  is,  compel  the  attendance  of  boys 
and  girls  to'  16  years  of  age  at  some  continuation,  industrial 
or  evening  school  a  certain  number  of  hours  a  week.  If  they 
go  to  evening  school,  the  total  number  of  hours  of  labor  in 
the  (Jay  should  not  exceed  8  hours  for  children  under  16  years. 
The  reason  for  this  will  be  given  more  fully  wrhen  we  discuss 
the  evening  school.  Perhaps  some  arrangment  might  be  made 
in  some  trades  so  that  a  certain  period  in  the  year,  to  be 
devoted  to  industrial  training,  could  be  given  by  the  employers 
and  the  pay  be  continued  during  that  period,  thus  making  a 
condition  very  much  like  the  short  course  work  in  agriculture, 
with  compulsion  added. 

*  We  are  aware  at  once  that  many  manufacturers  will  say  that 
compulsion  is  impossible,  or  that  such  arrangements  as  we 
advocate  here,  are  impracticable  under  the  actual  conditions 
in  manufacture.  Your  commission  is  also  aware  that  the  forces 
which  fought  child  labor  legislation  in  this  state  will  no  doubt 
fight  the  compulsory  continuation  school  law.  It  will  be  said 
that  it  is  impossible  to  let  a  boy  leave  his  work  one  day  a  week 
because  of  the  fact  that  the  child  is  working  in  a  system  requir- 
ing minute  division  of  labor  and  that  he  is  doing  a  small  but 
necessary  part  of  the  entire  production,  and  if  he  stops  for  any 
period  then  the  machine  must  stop  or  some  skilled  employees 
must  be  delayed.  The  child,  although  a  small  and  weak  link, 
is  still  a  link  in  the  chain. 

The  answer  to  this  argument,  as  the  statistics  given  by 
the  Wisconsin  bureau  of  labor  show,  is  that  there  are 
comparatively  few  children  employed  in  factories,  mercan- 
tile and  correlated  industries  in  Wisconsin  less  than  16 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      35 

years  of  age.  There  were  but  6,345  permits  issued  last 
year.  Some  of  these,  were  not  used,  or  were  used  for  a  very 
short  time.  On  the  other  hand  children  working  on  farms  or  in 
domestic  service  were  not  included.  It  is  true  that  some  adjust- 
ment will  have  to  be  made  in  certain  trades,  but  of  these  chil- 
dren it  is  safe  to  say  that  at  least  one-half  are  working  at  tasks, 
tb^  absence  from  which  for  a  day  or  a  week  will  not  stop  the 
work  or  interfere  in  any  way7 with  the  process.  The  statistics 
collected  by  the  Wisconsin  bureau  of  labor  show  that  but  360 
were  used  in  machine  tending.  Where  children  are  engaged  in 
packing,  labeling,  counting,  errand  running,  the  matter  can  be 
easily  met.  In  Germany  the  classes  are  made  to  accomodate 
these  conditions.  In  some  trades  one  whole  day  is  given;  in 
some  others,  two  half  days;  in  others,  evening  classes;  and  in 
this  way  the  hours  are  made  to  fit  into  the  occupation.  This 
has  caused  very  little  trouble  to  the  employer,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  attendance  at  German  continuation  schools  is 
compulsory  until  18  years  of  age. 

In  this  state  we  fhave  learned  from  experience,  however,  that 
mere  compulsion  will  never  be  of  the  greatest  service.  Although 
we  have  compulsory  education  today  in  the  common  schools,  we 
find  that  many  boys  drop  out  the  first  moment  they  can;  they 
are  tired  of  school.  Here  compulsion  without  proper  methods, 
proper  teachers,  without  those  practical  things  which  have  made 
Germany  successful  in  this  work,  will  never  accomplish  the  re- 
sults sought.  A  ( lack  of  patience  with  compulsory  education  is 
manifest  at  the  present  time.  Honest  men  who  have  not  studied 
school  systems  call  compulsion  a  failure.  Mere  compulsion  is  ad- 
mittedly a  failure,  but  compulsion  combined  with  good  methods 
is  not.  In  Germany  the  amount  of  compulsion  is  regulated  lo- 
cally. The  statistics  of 'education  in  Prussia  (where  there 
is  local  option  in  the  matter  of  compulsion)  show  that  the  schools 
where  compulsion  is  used,  are  progressing,  while  those  where  it 
is  not  used  are  going  backward.  The  students  in  compulsory 
industrial  schools  increased  from  174,494  in  1904  to  286,822,  in 
1908,  while  those  in  non-compulsory  schools  decreased  from 
27,222  in  1904  to  17.659  in  190&  .The  same  relative  decrease  is 
shown  in  commercial  continuation  schools. 

Analysis  of  data  in  M.  E.  Sadler's  book  on  continuation 
schools  in  England,  shows  us  that  "of  the  195  firms  represent- 
ing some  of  the  chief  trades  and  industries  in  England  to  whom 


36       REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

inquiries  were  sent,  67  replied.  Of  these  67,  49  excused  ap- 
prentices from  day  work  to  allow  of  their  attending  classes. 
The  time  allowed  is  from  half  a  day  to  a  day  a  week."  That 
is,  many  of  the  public  spirited  manufacturers  of  England  rec- 
ognize that  they  can  give  part  time  off,  and  they  do  so.  The 
pity  is  that  the  other  manufacturers  who  are  not  as  public 
spirited  are  not  compelled  to  do  the  same.  No  stronger  argu- 
ment can  be  used  in  favor  of  compulsion.  Certain  manufac- 
turers can  do  it,  evidently,  in  England,  and  others  will  not  do 
it.  The  fact  that  such  a  large  percentage  do  do  it,  refutes  the 
argument  that  compulsory  allowance  of  time  during  the  day  to 
employees  is  impossible. 

The  Wisconsin  bureau  of  labor  report  has  the  following  to 
say  about  the  question  of  the  reduction  of  hours  of  labor  of 
children  in  order  to  allow  for  industrial  education:  "A  few 
states  have  already  effected  a  reduction  in  the  legal  number 
of  hours  of  labor  of  children  without  serious  consequences  to 
industry,  and  the  eight  hour  day  is  regarded  as  the  goal  for 
those  workmen  who  are  able  to  protect  themselves.  Why 
should  it  not  be  the  goal  for  those  who  are  unable  to  protect 
themselves?  The  eight  hour  day  would  not  be  inconvenient 
in  factories  whether  employing  either  1,  2  or  3  shifts  and  the 
other  employers  of  labor  would  have  less  difficulty  in  adjusting 
themselves  to  such  a  legal  limitation." 

Your  commission  recommends  an  eight  hour  day  in  this  state 
for  children  under  16  years  of  age.  If  this  were  brought  about 
in  all  industries  it  would  be  a  great  step  towards  the  carrying 
out  of  the  plan  as  outlined  by  your  commission.  The  child  would 
have  the  option  of  going  to  evening  school  or  day  continuation 
school.  Such  a  system  would  inevitably  lead  to  the  establish- 
ment of  day  continuation  schools  but-  would  allow  for  adjust- 
ment in  special  cases.  It  also  seems  to  your  commission  that 
this  Scotch  law  with  an  eight  hour  limitation  could  be  well 
extended  to  18  years  in  certain  industries  of  a  trying  nature 
or  in  which,  because  of  danger  to  the  public,  the  pupils  should 
have  a  special  training.  From  the  attitude  of  railroad  officials 
in  this  state  and  throughout  the  country  it  would  seem  that 
no  opposition  would  be  met  from  them  if  the  limit  were  ex- 
tended, and  therefore  your  commission  has  prepared  a  bill 
extending  the  limit  to  18  years  in  railroad  work. 

If  the  methods  of  compulsion  now  used  in  the  school^  of 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      37 

Wisconsin  are  still  defective,  then  we  must  not  apply  such 
antiquated  and  inefficient  methods  to  compulsory  industrial 
education,  but  must  improve  the  compulsory  methods  now  used 
in  the  elementary  schools  and  use  efficient  methods  for  both 
the  elementary  school  and  the  continuation  school.  For  this 
reason  your  commission  has  planned  certain  improvements  in 
the  compulsory  education  law  with  a  view  to  the  application 
of  this  law  to  compulsory  education  in  continuation  schools 
for  boys  and  girls  in  industry  between  the  ages  of  14  and  16. 

Compulsion  to  16  years  of  age  will  not  be  a  hardship  on  the 
manufacturer  and  the  employer,  nor  on  the  parent  or 
the  student.  It  is  well"  known  that  the  interest  and  en- 
thusiasm shown  by  the  ordinary  boy  in  these  German  compul- 
sory continuation  schools  is  far  greater  than  that  shown  by 
the  student  in  the  last  years  of  the  elementary  school.  The 
reason  is  simply  that  his  interest  is  absorbed  in  solving  the 
problems  which  meet  him  every  day  in  his  work.  The  manu- 
facturer or  employer  is  making  an  investment  in  the  future  pi 
his  business  and  the  parent  has  a  way  open  to  him  to  give  to 
his  children  better  preparation  for  life.  It  is  an  investment  on 
every  hand  and  it  can  be  carried  out  just  as  well  here  as  in 
Germany.  All  over  this  country  part  time  schemes  have  sprung 
up  in  a  voluntary  manner,  reaching,  it  is  true,  only  a  few  peo- 
ple, but  these,  as  the  statistics  given  by  Professor  Reber  show, 
indicate  that  the  thing  is  possible  in  America.  The  part  time 
system  in  the  continuation  schools  of  Cincinnati,  the  part  time 
schools  of  Boston,  all  show  this.  It  is  not  hard  to  make  this  re- 
adjustment or  to  work  out  these  methods;  and  compulsion 
which  usually  runs  between  14  and  18  in  Germany  certainly 
should  not  be  a  hardship  between  14  and  16  in  America.  As 
our  plan  here  necessarily  includes  a  study  of  evening  schools, 
trade  schools  and  other  means  of  educating  workmen,  these 
factors  will  be  discussed  so  that  the  whole  plan  can  be  seen  as 
a  unit  and  the  place  of  compulsion  and  of  the  proposed  legisla- 
tion can  be  definitely  set  forth. 


38        EEPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 


CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS. 

We,  to  some  extent,  have  been  discussing  continuation  schools, 
but  a  consideration  of  these  schools  as  applied  to  our  conditions 
deserves  a  more  complete  analysis  than  we  have  thus  far  been 
giving  them.  How  can  continuation  schools  be  established  in 
Wisconsin? 

First  of  all,  the  continuation  school  is  not  a  high  school. 
We  are  considering,  when  we  speak  of  the  continuation  school, 
what  we  can  do  for  the  80  to  90  per  cent  of  those  who  never 
go  to  the  high  school,  but  who  go  into  industry  as  soon  as 
they  are  14  years  of  age. 

Your  commission  recommends  the  establishment  of  continua-. 
tion  schools  as  the  first  step  to  be  taken  in  this  state,  for  the 
reason  that  these  schools  seem  to  meet  our  needs  better  than 
any  other  system.  It  is  not  a  perfect  system ;  it  is  not  the  most 
highly  scientific  system;  but  it  does  something  where  nothing 
has  been  done.  It  meets  the  broadest  aim  and  it  will  at  once 
reach  the  greatest  number  at  the  least  cost. 

Again,  your  commission  believes  that  the  industrial  educational 
need  of  this  state  is  not  going  to  be  supplied  by  the  establish- 
ment of  trade  schools  here  and  there  in  cities  which  can  afford 
them;  but  that  a  complete  system  adapted  to  the  whole  state, 
meeting  the  needs  of  people  in  the  smallest  villages  as  well  as 
the  largest  cities,  must  be  installed  or  else  the  problem  will  not 
be  solved.  It  is  comparatively  easy  for  a  large  city  to  estab- 
lish a  trade  school,  but  what  can  be  done  with  the  boy  or  girl 
in  the  village  store  or  in  the  other  varied  employments  of  life, 
scattered  in  small  places  throughout  our  state?  That  is  the 
question.  The  success  of  our  plan  must  be  tested  by  its  re- 
sults in  dealing  with  such  cases.  If  we  had  money  enough  we 
could  easily  establish  in  every  village  in  Wisconsin  a  trade 
school,  but  would  this  meet  all  the  need?  What  kind  of  a  school 
would  it  be?  What  would  it  teach?  Would  it  reach  the  80 
or  90  per  cent  of  boys  and  girls  not  in  school?  We  have  not 
the  money  to  set  up  these  schools,  nor  would  we  know  at  once 
where  and  how  to  apply  it  if  we  did.  There  are  two  places, 
however,  in  which  we  can  expend  money,  and  where  we  must 
expend  it.  All  of  the  children  of  this  state  between  14  and 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      39 

16  years  of  age  who  are  in  industry  must  have  their  educational 
needs  supplied.  The  only  successful  way  so  far  found  is  the 
German  continuation  school. 

We  believe  that  the  state  of  Wisconsin  instead  of  relying 
upon  the  establishment  of  trade  schools  such  as  have  been  set 
up  in  the  thickly  populated  state  of  Massachusetts,  should  be- 
gin at  once  a  plan  of  providing  for  this  period  of  14  to  16  years 
of  age  by  means  of  continuation  schools.  In  that  way  we  can 
reach  the  greatest  number  at  the  least  cost  and  we  can  allow 
the  system  to  grow  gradually  with  the  best  results.  Generally 
speaking,  all  investigators  agree,  as  has  been  stated  before, 
that,  as  a  rule,  boys  are  not  wanted  as  apprentices  before 
they  are  16  years  of  age,  therefore  if  they  leave  school 
at  14  they  practically  waste  their  time.  A  more  careful  analy- 
sis, however,  will  show  us  that  it  is  only  in  certain  trades  that 
boys  are  not  wanted  before  they  are  16,  and  those  are  the  trades 
which  require  physical  strength.  There  are  trades,  also,  in 
which  the  apprentice  system  has  not  broken  down  completely. 
The  investigations  of  child  labor  for  the  past  10  years,  and  the 
strenuous  opposition  put  up  by  certain  employers  to  the  child 
labor  law,  show  that  there  are  some  employments  in  which 
children  under  16  years  of  age  are  of  service.  The  statistics 
of  children  actually-  in  industry  under  16  years  of  age  show  a 
great  and  increasing  number  thus  employed.  No  doubt  this  is 
due  to  the  subdivisions  of  trades  and  to  the  increasing  use  of 
machinery  which  can  be  tended  by  children.  The  report  of  the 
Wisconsin  labor  bureau  on  children  in  occupations  under  16 
years  of  age  shows  that  there  were  but  35  children  in  the  build- 
ing trades  (in  which  apprenticeship  still  exists),  while  there 
were  2,640  in  factories  and  workshops.  It  will  be  apparent  at 
once  that  the  building  trades  probably  require  more  physical 
capacity  than  the  other  trades  of  a  lighter  nature  in  workshops 
and  factories.  Of  those  in  the  latter  institutions,  356  were  en- 
gaged in  sewing,  318  in  leather  work,  529  in  retail  stores,  350 
in  offices,  in  knitting  260,  in  wood  work  268,  in  hardware  272, 
in  food  making,  such  as  candy  making,  icing  cakes  and  cookies, 
canning  and  bottling,  sausage  filling,  etc.,  214.  Most  of  these 
occupations  are  very  light,  and  physical  strength  is  not  re- 
quired, while  some  of  them,  such  as  the  leather  trade  and  the 
textile  trades,  are  very  much  subdivided  and  require  the  quick- 
ness of  children.  It  is  evident  from  the  reports  that  conditions 


40       REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

similar  to  those  in  England  are  rapidly  forming  in  our  state. 
It  is  certain  that  many  of  the  children  from  14  to  16  have  very 
little  outlook  for  the  future  in  the  occupation  in  which  they  are 
engaged  and  have  begun  no  particular  preparation  for  life 
work. 

Shadwell  in  his  book,  "Industrial  Efficiency,"  says  of  Eng- 
land: "It  is  a  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  boys  never 
learn  or  attempt  to  pursue  any  trade  at  all.  They  follow  the 
line  of  least  resistance  and  as  soon  as  they  are  released  from 
'school  and  often  before,  they  begin  to  earn  money  by  unskilled 
labor,  as  errand  boys,  shop  boys,  van  boys,  newspaper  boys  and 
other  occasional  occupations.  There  is  always  a  demand  for 
their  services  and  the  temptation  is  to  many  irresistible.  Thus 
they  grow  up  without  any  special  knowledge  or  skill.  As  they 
grow  older  and  cannot  live  on  boy's  wages,  they  are  thrust  out 
by  the  constantly  renewed  supply  of  younger  lads  and  drift 
into  the  ranks  of  occasional  or  inefficient  labor." 

The  above  can  be  applied  to  Wisconsin  almost  without  the 
changing  of  a  word.  We  have  conditions  similar  to  those  in 
England  and  they  are  rapidly  getting  worse.  The  report  of 
the  Wisconsin  Bureau  of  Labor  for  1910  shows  that  only  12 
per  cent  of  the  children  employed  under  16  are  in  positions  to 
learn  a  trade.  These,  our  report  says,  are  in  the  building 
trades,  millinery,  dressmaking,  trunkmakirfg,  core  making  and 
tinning.  It  will  be  recognized  in  some  of  these,  however,  that 
it, is  very  probable  that  only  a  slight  division  of  a  trade  can  be 
learned.  As  the  report  states,  88  per  cent  of  the  children  are 
in  occupations  of  the  merest  mechanical  kind  where  skill  is  not 
developed  or  encouraged,  for  that  matter,  to  any  great  extent. 
Says  the  report:  "The  greatest  problem  from  the  point  of 
view  of  educational  value  is  presented  by  the  large  number, 
apparently  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  total,  engaged  in 
tasks  to  which  it  was  not  found  possible  to  ascribe  any  benefit 
other  than  the  wages  earned.  The  simple  routine  tasks  to  be 
performed  in  many  factories  are  detrimental  both  to  mind  and 
character.  Large  numbers  of  children  are  employed  in  leather, 
box,  candy,  bag  and  net  factories,  where  practically  no  thought 
is  required  to  perform  the  labor.  Children  working  at  these 
employments  either  become  stupid  and  mechanical  or  quit  work 
and  drift  from  place  to  place  in  quest  of  something  more  inter- 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      41 

esting.  Failing  to  find  congenial  work,  they  drift  away  from 
settled  and  wholesome  habits.  Equally  injurious  is  the  work 
of  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  messenger  boys." 

Whatever  fine  theories  we  may  have,  it  is  apparent  that  we 
are  not  meeting  the  needs  of  this  class  of  people.  The  high 
school  will  not  meet  them ;  the  trade  school  can  meet  them  only 
to  a  certain  extent,  and  we  cannot  meet  them  without  compul- 
sion; that  is,  children  will  not  go  to  school  voluntarily;  parents 
will  not  make  them  go  to  school,  and  many  employers  will  not 
allow  them  to  go  unless  the  state  requires  it.  It  is  apparent 
that  a  wider  moral,  mental  and  manual  training  is  needed  in 
order  to  supplement  this  narrow  deadening  industrial  status  in 
which  they  find  themselves.  The  only  way  your  commission 
can  see  possible  is  that  of  the  compulsory  continuation  school. 
It  is  very  apparent  that  many  of  these  industries  hire  boys 
and  girls  temporarily  because  they  are  cheap,  with  no  inten- 
tion of  keeping  them  after  a  certain  age.  But  should  a  boy 
who  is  in  the  leather,  hardware,  or  wood-working  trade  be  dis- 
carded at  16,  17  or  18?  Men  are  needed  in  these  industries. 
In  fact  there  is  in  many  of  them  a  demand  for  skilled  labor 
which  is  greater  than  the  supply.  If  boys  can  be  supplied  with 
an  incentive  to  learn  something  about  the  broader  aspects  of  a 
trade  while  actually  engaged  in  some  manual  mechanical  proc- 
ess connected  with  it,  many  of  these  boys  will  take  up  with 
enthusiasm  work  of  this  kind,  progress  in  it,  and  eventually  fit 
themselves  to  fill  skilled  and  well-paid  places.  What  is  needed 
for  this  boy  is  a  sort  of  quasi-apprenticeship  which  will  provide 
an  opening  from  these  temporary  positions  into  a  permanent 
trade  or  a  permanent  well  paying  position.  High  grade  skill 
is  always  in  demand.  The  continuation  school  as  advocated  in 
this  report  can  furnish  this  medium  for  attaining  skill,  at  least 
to  a  certain  extent.  It  provides  a  way  by  which,  if  the  boy 
wants  to  enter  a  broader  and  more  permanent  employment, 
he  is  at  least  given  a  chance.  The  door  is  not  shut  to  him.  If 
he  wants  to  enter  a  regular  apprenticeship  at  16,  the  work  he 
has  done  has  lost  him  no  time,'  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  wishes 
to  change  his  occupation  at  16  and  go  into  another,  he  has  been 
taught  something  about  some  particular  trade  or  occupation 
for  two  years.  He  has,  in  addition  to  that,  been  taught  arith- 
metic, English,  and  has  a  general  education  as  his  stimulus. 


42        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

He  has  not  been  allowed  to  drop  his  habits  of  study  and  to  lose 
the  discipline  which  goes  with  them.  He  has  lost  nothing,  what- 
ever he  wishes  to  undertake.  For  instance,  the  shop  mathe- 
matics which  he  will  have  to  learn  in  the  continuation  school, 
if  he  is  engaged  in  the  hardware  work,  will  certainly  be  of  use 
to  him  in  woodwork  or  in  clerical  work,  if  he  wishes  to  enter 
either  some  other  employment  or  a  trade  school  at  16  years  of 
age.  Whatever  he  goes  into,  the  compulsory  continuation 
school  between  14  and  16  will  certainly  help  him.  He  has  not 
lost  his  time,  and  in  addition  he  has  acquired  a  general  educa- 
tion which  cannot  fail  to  be  of  use  to  him  whatever  he  does. 

But  the  question  comes  up,  how  about  the  boy  who  is  not  in 
a  trade,  who  does  not  wish  to  learn  one,  or  who  is  in  one  of  the 
scattered  employments  in  which  no  special  classes  can  be 
formed?  "What  about  the  boy  who  is  in  some  village  or 
small  town  which  cannot  maintain  schools  for  different 
trades?  This  shows  the  elasticity  of  the  plan  for  con- 
tinuation schools.  General  continuation  classes  can  be 
formed ;  general  training,  including  citizenship  and  all  the 
other  branches  of  work  particularly  adapted  to  any  man's 
life,  can  be  taken  up.  When  a  certain  number  of  boys 
from  a  particular  trade  can  be  gathered  together  a  special 
class  can  be  .formed,  just  as  is  done  in  Germany.  A  boy  going 
to  these  courses  can  go,  as  required  by  the  Scotch  law  and  as 
proposed  in  this  report,  to  an  evening  school;  or  can  go,  as 
other  boys  go,  to  continuation  schools,  but  he  can  take  general 
elementary  or  cultural  work  instead  of  industrial  work. 

Classes  for  illiterates  or  for  foreigners  who  wish  to  have  a 
knowledge  of  the  English  language  can  also  be  organized.  In 
fact,  any  kind  of  a  class  which  is  adapted  to  the  wants  of  a  few 
people  can  be  formed.  Classes  can  be  developed  and  special- 
ized as  the  needs  arise  and  as  the  money  is  forthcoming.  In 
America,  where  our  social  classes  have  not  been  strictly  strati- 
fied, there  will  be  a  large  percentage  of  our  boys  who  happen 
to  be  working  in  industrial  work,  who  will  want  to  study  for 
professions.  Under  careful  supervision  and  with  the  per- 
mission of  some  local  board,  a  boy  who  is  meanwhile  working 
temporarily  in  a  dry  goods  store  and  who  wants  to  study 
law,  may  be  excused  from  the  commercial  continuation  school 
and  go  to  some  evening  school.  Such  a  boy  should  certainly 
not  be  hindered  but  ought  to  be  given  every  opportunity  to  go 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL.  TRAINING.      43 

ahead  in  his  particular  choice  as  long  as  it  is  a  reasonable 
one. 

We  have  an  efficient  instrument  to  fill  in  the  gaps  in  this 
scheme,  in.  the  university  extension  division.  This  is  so  or- 
ganized that  it  can  take  care  of  small  numbers  of  especially 
ambitious  boys  and  men-,  and  carry  them  along  until  classes 
can  be  formed.  There  is  no  machinery  in  Germany  or  any  other 
country  which  can  fill  in  the  gaps  in  this  manner.  A  boy  can 
go  as  high  as  he  wishes  in  this  work  or  begin  with  any  branch. 
It  forms  an  elastic  element,  and  we  have  this  great  advantage 
over  any  other  state  in  the  formation  of  an  industrial  educa- 
tional system. 

In  order  that  your  commission  may  not  be  thought  to  put 
too  much  emphasis  upon  the  industrial  field,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  it  is  in  office  work,  mercantile  work  and  the  vari- 
ous parts  of  business  training  that  classes  in  continuation 
schools  can  be  most  easily  formed,  most  cheaply  maintained  and 
for  which  convenient  hours  can  be  most  easily  arranged. 

It  is  evident  that  a  great  deal  of  experimenting  will  be  neces- 
sary before  these  schools  can  be  thoroughly  adapted  to  the 
work  in  our  state.  Nevertheless,  we  do  not  want  to  follow  the 
example  of  the  manual  training  schools,  or  for  that  matter 
some  of  the  methods  used  in  agricultural  education  in  America. 
We  do  not  want  this  instruction  so  general  that  it  will  not  affect 
in  a  practical  manner  the  work  in  which  the  great  body  of  our 
young  people  are  actually  engaged.  Our  plan  must  evolve  grad- 
ually as  needs  become  apparent,  and  means  for  meeting  them  are 
worked  out.  Without  such  elasticity,  without  a  proper  safe- 
guard against  too  rapid  development  and  specialization,  fads 
will  creep  in  and  costly  waste  will  be  the  result.  By  caution, 
by  adjusting  the  courses  as  they  up  to  the  necessities  of  the 
business,  by  a  careful  analysis  of  the  various  needs  of  the  com- 
munity, we  can  hope  to  develop  our  educational  facilities  as 
those  needs  increase ;  we  can  change  as  the  industries  change, 
and  we  can  establish  higher  and  more  complex  specialized 
teaching  as  the  demand  arises.  The  general  continuation 
school  will  rapidly  develop  into  special  classes,  but  the  gen- 
eral classes  will  no  doubt  come  first  because  they  will  reach 
the  greatest  number  of  people.  It  is  apparent  that  in  some 
trades,  such  a,s  the  carpenter  trade,  plumbing,  and  trades  of 
that  general  nature,  special  classes  can  be  established  at  once. 


44        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

The  experience  of  the  teachers  of  the  university  extension  di- 
vision and  of  the  teachers  in  the  agricultural  short  courses,  as 
well  as  those  in  the  school  for  artisans  at  the  university  will  be 
of  the  greatest  service  in  this  evolutionary  building  up  of  con- 
tinuation schools. 

The  continuation  school  may  be  only  a  stop  gap,  but  it  is  the 
only  device  which  will,  with  any  degree  of  efficiency,  take  care 
of  the  children  between  14  and  16  years  of  age.  It  will  solve 
that  question  better  than  any  trade  school  or  evening  school. 
The  Wisconsin  bureau  of  labor  report  for  1910  says,  "As  far  as 
instruction  is  concerned,  it  would  be  possible  to  admit  boys  of 
14  to  the  trade  school,  but  at  the  age  of  16  a  lad  would  be  too 
young  to  go  out  as  a  journeyman.  Therefore  it  does  not  appear 
that  there  would  be  any  advantage  in  admitting  boys  be- 
fore they  are  16.  In  the  trade  school  preparatory  courses, 
English,  practical  mathematics,  mechanical  drawing,  shop 
work,  would  naturally  make  up  the  large  part  of  the  curri- 
culum." This  is  the  very  work  that  the  continuation  school 
could  do.  The  plan  here  proposed  would  meet  this  situation 
exactly,  as  it  would  provide  for  this  pre-apprentice  training 
thought  necessary  by  the  Bureau  of  labor. 

Whether  we  wish  it  or  not,  the  children  are  already  at  work.- 
As  described  in  this  report,  the  trade  school  could  be  at  the  same 
time  the  continuation  school,  if  we  follow  the  method  now  used 
in  Germany.  If  it  is  possible  for  a  boy  to  go  to  a  preliminary 
trade  school  at  14  years  of  age,  another  boy  at  14  years  of  age 
who  is  employed  all  the  time  could  be  in  the  same  class.  He 
would  of  course  be  at  work  on  a  different  task,  as  described  in 
our  discussion  of  the  "task"  system.  The  details  of  this  task 
system  will  be  described  later  on  in  our  report. 

The  continuation  school  is  in  truth  an  industrial  school,  if  the 
distinction  can  be  made  between  an  industrial  school  and  trade 
school.  In  the  trade  school  as  now  organized  in  Massachusetts 
and  as  advocated  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  by 
most  of  the  manufacturers  in  America,  children  can  be  admitted 
without  difficulty  at  14  for  full  time,  because  the  first  two  years 
take  up  the  very  preparatory  work  advocated  by  the  Bureau  of 
labor.  The  continuation  school  as  we  have  outlined  it  here,  will 
insure  a  broad  industrial  training  and  will  insure  at  the  same 
time  that  greater  numbers  of  students  will  take  this  work  be- 
cause of  the  compulsory  features  in  our  plan. 

It  would  be  ideal  indeed  if  we  could  compel  all  the  children 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      45 

to  go  to  the  common  school  or  high  school  until  16,  but  in  prac- 
tice it  has  not  worked  out  properly.  The  common  school  is  not 
the  place  for  any  really  practical  trade  education.  The  common 
school  may  teach  some  fundamentals,  and  the  high  school  may 
teach  some  manual  dexterity  or  tool  knowledge,  but  neither  of 
these  schools  can  supply  the  equipment,  the  atmosphere  or  the 
teachers  to  teach  the  boys  who  are  already  in  an  industry  or 
who  must  work  for  a  living. 

There  is  a  considerable  number  of  children  who  would  not 
be  greatly  benefited  by  going  to  the  ordinary  school  beyond  li 
years  of  age.  Under  the  present  school  system,  a  great  many 
children  fret  under  the  kind  of  instruction  which  they  get  in 
the  common  schools  at  that  age  and  naturally  resist  it.  Some 
children  are  so  constructed  that  they  must  learn  by  seeing, 
hearing  and  handling  material.  They  must  learn  by  doing,  and 
neither  the  common  school  nor  the  high  school,  can  supply  this 
method.  The  continuation  school  can  supply  it  and  can  give 
the  fundamentals  which  should  accompany  the  actual  acquisi- 
tion of  skill  in  any  work.  For  those  who  will  go  to  work  or 
who  must  go  to  work,  the  only  solution  in  sight  at  present  is  the 
continuation  school  compulsory  to  16  years  of  age. 

Again,  we  assert  that  in  carrying  out  the,  system  of  continua- 
tion schools  we  are  only  doing  for  trade,  business,  and  manu- 
facturers what  we  have  already  done  for  agriculture.  At  least, 
we  are  using  the  same  principles.  The  great  success  in  agricul- 
tural education,  when  it  comes  right  down  to  the  question  of 
turning  out  farmers  or  dairymen,  we  repeat,  has  been  through 
the  short  course,  or  continuation  schools  for  those  actually  in 
the  industry.  The  continuation  school  boy  who  goes  from  the 
factory  into  the  school  and  from  the  school  back  into  the  fac- 
tory does  not  get  merely  theoretical  training,  but  he  adds  theo- 
retical and  cultural  training  to  the  practical  tasks  which  he  has 
to  meet  in  the  factory. 

This  problem  is  not  as  hard  as  it  seems  at  first.  A  law  can 
be  passed  which  will  allow  cities  of  certain  classes  to  voluntar- 
ily establish  continuation  schjools  of  a  general  or  of  a  special 
nature,  and  whenever  such  schools  are  provided,  then  it  shall 
be  compulsory  for  boys  and  girls  between  14  and  16  years  of 
age,  who  are  employed  in  industry,  to  attend  them ;  or,  a  law 
can  be  passed  which  will  require  cities  and  villages  to  establish 
such  schools  whenever  the  parents  or  employers  of  25  boys  or 


46        REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

girls  shall  make  application.  But  the  compulsory  law,  provid- 
ing for  compulsory  continuation  schools  and  for  their  equip- 
ment can  be  so  drawn  as  to  go  into  effect  in  1913  throughout 
the  state.  This  will  give  villages  and  cities  a  chance  to  pre- 
pare for  this  additional  school  such  facilities  as  will  be  needed ; 
and  by  that  time  an  administration  department  to  take  care 
of  such  schools  may  be  established  in  the  state.  The  problem 
is  not  a  hard  one.  Of  course  your  commission  does  not  contem- 
plate the  establishment  of  a  compulsory  law  without  having 
some  means  provided  for  taking  care  of  the  children;  and 
by  the  above  gradual  process  it  is  thought  that  ample  pro- 
vision can  be  made  by  the  time  set  for  the  compulsory  feature 
of  the  law  to  go  into  effect. 

EVENING  SCHOOLS 

Analysis  of  existing  methods. — The  continuation  school 
was  taken  up  .first  because  it  is  more  successful  than  the 
evening  school.  However,  the  evening  school  must  be 
considered  in  connection  with  continuation  schools.  It  deals 
with  the  same  class  of  people  and  meets  the  same  needs; 
in  fact,  the  evening  school  is  a  continuation  school — the 
kind  best  known  in  this  country  and  in  England.  Your 
commission  has  compared  the  evening  schools  with  the  con- 
tinuation schools  in  order  to  get  their  points  of  difference 
and  the  points  of  success  or  lack  of  success  in  each  of  these 
systems.  Your  commission  does  not  propose  the  abandonment 
of  the  evening  school;  the  evening  school  must  always  exist. 
It  fills  its  niche  in  the  evolution  of  industrial  education.  It  has 
produced  in  the  past  brilliant  men  and  women.  It  has  fur- 
nished the  blessed  opportunity  for  many  thousands  of  toilers 
to  develop  themselves.  It  first  appeals  to  us  when  we  think  of 
extending  the  opportunities  of  education  to  the  great  mass  of 
those  who  work.  In  the  discussion  of  the  continuation  school 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  Germans  have  already  found  that  the 
old  fashioned  evening  school  was  the  most  difficult  school  to 
maintain  and  in  the  end  the  least  profitable  investment  of  pub- 
lic funds  for  education.  The  evening  schools  in  Germany  have 
been  largely  superseded  by  the  new  and  more  economical 
methods  now  used  in  the  day  continuation  schools.  The  Ger- 
mans have  not  done  this  without  reason.  It  is  the  belief  of 
your  commission  that  some  of  the  reasons  for  this  change  have 
been  found. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      47 


A  comparison  of  the  work  done  in  these  schools  shows  a^  onmi_EGE  OF 
that  in  four  out  of  five  public  evening  schools  the  work  iss 


cidedly  inferior  to  the  work  done  in  such  private  evening 
schools  as  the  Boston  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  great  Polytechnic 
school  in  London.  At  the  public  evening  schools  one  often 
sees  rooms  full  of  listless  students,  and  hears  the  constant  com- 
plaint of  the  teachers  that  "the  pupils  will  not  work,"  and 
'  '  they  drop  out  towards  spring,  '  '  etc.  Teachers  will  point  with' 
pride  to  some  young  man,  who,  through  sheer  determination 
and  self  control,  is  "working  himself  up."  But,  on  the  whole, 
it  is  pretty  discouraging  when  one  considers  what  ought  to  be 
done  for  these  boys  and  girls  who  are  striving  so  hard  to  better 
themselves.  This  is  true  not  only  in  America  but  also  in  Eng- 
land and  Germany.  Those  who  have  examined  this  problem 
thoroughly,  all  agree  that  the  economic  "pace"  today  makes 
it  very  hard  indeed  for  the  growing  boy  or  girl  to  do  good 
work  at  night  school  after  a  long,  hard  day  spent  in  tending 
a  machine.  Our  work  has  changed;  the  piece  work  and  the 
rapidity  required  in  work  upon  machines  make  labor  nerve- 
racking  and  leave  those  working  under  modern  conditions 
exhausted  by  evening. 

A  distinguished  Gernian  educator  told  a  member  of  the  com- 
mission that  he  believed  that  the  evening  school  would  soon  be 
a  thing  of  the  past  everywhere.  "It  is  merely  a  question  of 
economics.  Boys  and  girls  between  fourteen  and  twenty  years 
of  age  should  be  allowed  to  develop  physically  ;  that  is  the  first 
concern  of  the  -state.  You  can't  do  anything  unless  you  have  the 
foundation  of  health  and  strength  upon  which  to  work.  Our 
division  of  labor,  our  factory  system,  our  piece  work,  our  pace, 
are  devitalizing  influences  notwithstanding  all  governments 
have  done  to  bring  about  child  labor  laws  and  sanitary  condi- 
tions in  industries."  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Webb,  the  great 
English  economists,  in  their  famous  "minority"  report  upon 
the  poor  law  in  England,  hold  practically  the  same  views,  and 
warn  the  English  people  that  evening  schools  will  not  serve 
the  purpose  unless  time  is  given  off  from  work  in  the  day 
time. 

The  Germans,  after  the  most  thorough  and  painstaking  ex- 
periments reaching  over  a  number  of  years,  are  now  discour- 
aging the  formation  of  evening  schools  for  young  people  under 


48        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR 

20  years  of  age.  Every  effort  is  .made  to  bring  the  work  of  in- 
dustrial education  into  the  day  time.  Experience  has  taught 
them  that  this  work  is  not  good  when  pursued  in  the  evening. 
It  would  be  blindness  and  folly  indeed,  for  your  commission  to 
recommend  the  investment  of  money  in  evening  schools  in  the 
state  of  Wisconsin,  unless  we  profit  by  some  of  the  experience 
of  other  countries  and  other  states;  unless  successful  methods 
which  are  used  in  other  states  are  considered.  We  have  not 
yet  organized  our  system  of  trade  schools  or  continuation 
schools,  therefore  we  must  do  something  to  fill  the  gap,  and  it 
will  be  necessary,  your  commission  believes,  to  establish  even- 
ing schools  for  a  while  in  this  state,  but  only  under  protest, 
with  the  idea  of  eventually  abolishing  them  so  far  as  children 
are  concerned  as  the  Germans  have  done. 

The  testimony  upon  this  question  seems  unanimous  not  only 
in  England  but  in  America.  John  L.  Shearer,  president  of  the 
great  Ohio  mechanics  institute  at  Cincinnati,  which  has  done 
as  good  work  as  any  evening  school  in  this  country,  says :  ' '  For 
moral  reasons  I  cannot  sanction  the  establishment  of  depart- 
ments in  our  public  schools  which  make  it  optional  for  a  child 
to  attend  either  in  the  day  time  or  in  the  evening.  The  tempta- 
tion becomes  too  great  to  utilize  the  child's  ability  for  commer- 
cial purposes  and  the  consequences  of  this  irregular  training 
becomes  a  serious  burden  upon  the  public  in  later  years.  I 
have  not  found  that  evening  classes  for  children  are  productive 
of  good  results,  but  rather  leave  in  their  train  many  serious 
evils.  This  brings  me  then  to  what  I  consider  the  legitimate 
sphere  of  the  night  school.  It  should  be  a  good  school  for  adults 
and  not  for  children." 

The  report  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering 
Education  gives  us  practically  the  same  opinion.  The  report 
for  1900  states:  "The  student  comes  two  or  three  evenings  a 
week  from  seven  or  eight  to  ten  o'clock.  He  comes  more  or 
less  worn  out  by  his  day's  toil  and  he  reaches  home  long  after 
his  usual  retiring  hour,  practically  exhausted.  His  mind  can- 
not be  alert  with  his  body  in  a  fagged  out  condition,  and  hence 
this  class  of  instruction  is  at  once  a  great  hardship,  and  in  com- 
parison with  day  schools  it  is  of  relatively  little  profit.  Men 
who  are  engaged  in  any  kind  of  actual  manual  labor  through 
the  day  are  greatly  handicapped  in  their  attendance  upon  such 
schools.  They  are  most  valuable  for  clerks,  bookkeepers, 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      49 

draughtsmen  and  the  like.  They  can  never  become  a  sub- 
stantial element  in  the  technical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes." 

All  authorities  in  America  and  Germany  agree  that  children 
should  not  be  put  into  the  night  school  and  nearly  all  agree 
that  the  night  school  is  not  of  the  highest  service  to  adults. 
It    may    be    that    the    reason    that    the    student    takes    so 
little    interest    in    the    public    night    school    is    because    of 
the  unattractiveness  of  the  school  compared  with  the  great 
amount  of  amusement  which  surrounds  him  in  the  evening  in 
every  walk  of  life  at  the  present  time.     The  very  pace  itself 
seems  to  breed  a  desire  for  excitement  or   amusement.     As 
Jane  Addams  and  others-  have  pointed  out  so  often,  this  is  a 
perfectly  normal  thing,  and  if  the  school  does  not  give  it,  some 
other  institution,  perhaps  less  worthy,  will  do  so.    The  English 
have  recognized  this   and  have  tried  unsuccessfully  to  over- 
come   some    of     the     shortcomings   and   lack   of   interest    in 
the  evening  school  by  brightening  up  intellects  through  healthy 
amusements  in  connection  with  those  centers.     However,  the 
ordinary  evening  school  which  has  none  of  these  things  cer- 
tainly takes  too  much  vitality  from  a  student.     It  seems  im- 
possible for  the  strongest  adult,  let  alone  a  child  under  20 
years  of  age,  to  go  a  long  distance  to  some  evening  school, 
only  to  meet  there  again  repression,  tired  teachers  and  listless 
companions.     Everything  in  the  boy  or  girl,  or  for  that  mat- 
ter the  young  man  and  woman,  cries  out  for  life  or  amuse- 
ment, sympathy  or  companionship.  The  electric  lighted  streets, 
the  dance  halls,  call  to  them.     It  takes  great  will  powerjn- 
deed,  or  else  stupid  acquiescence,  to  keep  us  such  a  routine. 
It  comes  to  be  merely  mechanical  attendance  without  effort. 
Why  is  it  that  boys  will  go  to  the  evening  schools  conducted 
by  societies  or  endowed  institutions  and  gladly  pay  a  high  fee 
for  such  instruction,  when  the  public  schools,  sometimes  with 
expensive  equipment  and  nearly  always  without  fees,  give  ex- 
actly the  same  work?    As  has  been  suggested  before,  if  there 
is  success  at  all  in  evening-  school  work,  it  is  in  these  private 
schools.     After  watching  the  work  of  the  teachers  in  the  pri- 
vate school,  again  the  truth  of  the  saying  of  the  great  French 
economist,  Leon  Say,  comes  home  to  us,  "It  is  not  merely  the 
machine,  it  is  also  the  machinist." 


50        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

It  is  a  crying  shame — it  is  a  crime,  that  Wisconsin  has 
scarcely  any  evening  schools  whatsoever  of  any  class,  but  after 
all,  it  is  in  line  with  the  neglect  of  all  the  rest  of  the  country 
and  with  the  lack  of  adjustment  and  the  stupid  methods  pur- 
sued everywhere.  The  evening  schools — the  only  schools  which 
we  have  had  in  America  for  the  working  boy  and  girl — are  gen- 
erally taught  by  tired  teachers; — the  same  teachers  who  teach 
in  the  day  schopls,  and  who  wish  to  make  a  little  money  by 
teaching  in  the  evening  schools.  Many  teachers  also  come 
from  the  ranks  of  college  students  or  from  those  who,  through 
illness  or  misfortune,  are  unable  to  teach  in  the  day  schools. 
These,  with  a  few  enthusiasts,  who  are  giving  their  time  and 
strength  to  uplift — these  are  the  teachers  of  those  who  are  to 
be  the  bone  and  sinew  of  our  people.  These  are  the  teachers 
who  must  teach  our  industrial  classes  the  things  which  pre- 
pare them  to  meet  the  battle  of  life. 

The  man  or  woman  who  works  all  day  teaching  children  and 
at  night  comes  tired  to  teach  tired  students  is  at  best  but  a 
second  rate  investment  for  our  educational  system,  however 
noble  the  efforts  of  such  a  teacher  may  be.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  private  institutions  have  professional  teachers  for  thia 
kind  of  work;  they  make  a  study  of  it.  They  have  the  en- 
thusiasm and  freshness  of  the  expert;  they  understand  that 
something  must  be  done  to  interest  the  student  upon  the  social 
side  as  well  as  on  the*  educational  side.  Usually  they  have  day 
classes  as  well  as  evening  classes,  as  in  the  Polytechnic  school 
of  London,  but  arrangements  are  always  made  so  that  the 
teachers  come  fresh  to  their  work.  Adjustment  of  time  is 
made  so  that  teachers  maintain  their  vitality  and  their  inter- 
est. This  is  true  also  of  the  best  German  industrial  schools. 
"Wherever  the  Germans  have  evening  schools  they  are  very 
careful  indeed  to  have  these  taught  by  fresh  teachers,  who 
understand  the  right  methods  of  evening  school  teaching. 
This  arrangement  can  easily  be  instituted  where  trade  schools 
or  evening  schools  already  exist. 

The  second  point  of  success  which  the  professional  evening 
school  teacher  has  over  the  regular  day  school  teacher  who  works 
in  an  evening  school  is  in  the  method  of  teaching.  Nearly  all 
these  schools  are  industrial  in  some  sense.  They  are  industrial 
in  their  nature  because  the  young  of  the  industrial  classes  need 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      51 

them;  they  are  industrial  because  the  greatest  interest  can  be 
kept  up  by  industrial  teaching.  The  workman  learns  through 
doing,  something  which  has  a  connection  with  his  everyday 
work.  Consequently,  to  meet  these  demands  a  complete  revo- 
lution of  method  is  necessary.  It  is  essentially  different  from 
that  used  in  teaching  pupils  in  common  schools,  in  high  schools 
or  colleges.  The  "teaching  by  doing"  method  so  common  in 
all  industrial  education  in  Germany  as  well  as  in  successful  in- 
dustrial education  in  America,  is  the  only  one  which  can  be 
used  with  any  degree  of  success  in  our  evening  schools  in  Wis- 
consin. The  teacher  who  has  been  teaching  all  her  life  in  pub- 
lic schools,  does  not  realize  and  cannot  realize  that  she  has  to 
change  all  her  methods  to  become  a  successful  teacher  of  boys 
and  girls  who  are  working  in  shops  and  behind  counters  all  day. 
The  private  schools  do  not  merely  teach  mathematics ;  they  teach 
shop  mathematics.  The  pupil  in  the  ordinary  public  school  be- 
gins to  learn  arithmetic  in  a  lower  grade.  After  certain  lessons 
are  given  and  a  certain  time  spent,  the  pupil  goes  to  the  next 
grade  and  so  on  up  to  college.  It  is  the  same  with  every  study. 
At  no  point  until  a  man  enters  a  profession,  is  there  a  gathering 
together  of  all  these  different  studies  to  work  out  the  practical 
every  day  problems  which  confront  the  individual  in  dealing 
with  his  work.  This  method  cannot  be  applied  to  the  teaching 
of  workers,  as  there  is  either  no  fixed  objective  point  to  be 
reached  or  it  is  so  far  away  that  the  workman  loses  it.  The 
whole  Tfital  difference  in  the  success  in  the  methods  of  teach- 
ing is  here.  The  successful  evening  school  method  is  that  one 
which  recognizes  the  objective  point  to  be  reached.  If,  then, 
the  teacher  in  the  evening  school  teaches  the  boy  certain 
mathematics,  and  the  next  year  he  comes  and  learns  more 
mathematics  in  the  same  manner  as  does  the  boy  in  the 
grade,  he  will  not  be  interested  and  will  not  go  to  school. 
He  gets  the  idea  that  he  will  be  an  old  man  before  he  gets 
what  he  wants.  But  if  at  once  he  is  given  something  which 
helps  him  with  his  daily  problem,  then  his  ambition  is 
aroused  and  he  is  encouraged  and  at  once  becomes  interested 
in  his  classes. 

The  splendid  drill  in  principles  which  children  receive  in  the 
common  schools  may  be  all  right,  but  these  methods  will  not  do 
for  evening  schools.  The  pupil  in  the  evening  school  must  un- 
derstand the  purpose  of  it  all,  must  see  how  everything  will 
give  him  immediate  help  upon  the  problems  which,  confront 


52        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR 

him.  Nine  out  of  ten  times  his  inability  to  solve  these  problems 
keeps  him  from  earning  more  money.  As  the  director  of  the 
New  York  department  of  industrial  education  says:  "The 
teaching  of  application  of  theory  should  always  be  emphasized 
in  evening  instruction." 

In  the  Boston  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  instance,  one  sees  chemistry  ap- 
plied directly  to  a  shop  problem.  Problems  are  worked  out  with 
the  instruments  used  in  every  day  trade  for  wiring  electricty  and 
for  measuring  it.  Automobiles  are  repaired  and  the  principles 
of  physics  and  mechanics  are  applied  directly  to  their  repair. 
So  in  Germany  the  boy  works  with  the  object  of  his  trade  before 
him.  For  instance,  at  the  jewelry  continuation  classes,  the 
boys  draw  by  free  hand  the  designs  used  in  the  jewelry  made  in 
the  factories.  Arithmetic  is  based  upon  the  calculations  actually 
used  in  the  trade  or  industry.  In  the  class  in  mechanical  draw- 
ing, the  lessons  relate  to  every  day  work  upon  the  machines  or 
buildings.  Great  stress  is  now  being  laid  upon  free  hand  and 
mechanical  drawing.  The  aim  sought,  of  course,  is  to  inspire 
idealism  in  the  mind  of  the  workman — to  awaken  his  artistic 
sense  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  him  understand  thoroughly 
his  work  and  to  train  his  hand  and  mind  together.  The  best 
models  from  all  over  the  World  are  sought,  with  such  thorough 
understanding  of  the  nature  of  the  problems  which  the  student 
meets,  that  practical  results  are  obtained. 

Incentives  should  be  studied  and  used. — President  Elliott  of 
Harvard  shows  that  the  desire  to  gain  competence  from  a  pro- 
fession is  »a  great  incentive.  "Why  not  apply  this  motive  to 
evening  schools? 

V  Multitudes  of  American  children,  taking  no  interest  in  their 
school  work,  or  seeing  no  connection  between  their  studies  and 
the  means  of  later  earning  a  good  livelihood,  drop  out  of  school 
far  too  early  of  their  own  accord,  or  at  least  offer  no  effective 
resistance  to  the  desire  of  unwise  parents  that  they  stop  study 
and  go  to  work.  Moreover,  from  lack  of  interest,  they  acquire 
while  in  school  a  listless  way  of  working. 

Again,  interest  in  their  studies  is  not  universal  among  that 
small  proportion  of  American  children  who  go  into  a  secondary 
school;  and  in  every  college  a  perceptible  proportion  of  the 
students  exhibit  a  languid  interest,  or  no  interest,  in  their 
studies,  and  therefore  bring  little  to  pass  during  the  very  pre- 
cious years  of  college  life. 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      53 

There  are,  however,  certain  regions  in  the  whole  field  of 
American  education  in  which  the  internal  motive  of  interest  in 
the  work  comes  into  full  play,  with  the  most  admirable  results. 
In  general,  professional  students  in  the  United  States  exhibit 
keen  interest  in  their  studies,  work  hard,  advance  rapidly  and 
avail  themselves  of  their  opportunities  to  gain  knowledge  and 
skill  to  the  utmost  limit  of  their  strength  and  capacity,  no  mat- 
ter whether  the  profession  for  which  they  are  preparing  is 
divinity,  law,  medicine,  architecture,  engineering,  forestry, 
teaching,  business  or  corporation  service. 

In  secondary  education  the  high  schools  of  commerce  and 
mechanic  arts  have  a  decided  advantage  as  regards  motive 
power  within  the  pupil,  over  the  ordinary  high  schools.  The 
industrial  schools,  trade  schools,  continuation  schools,  evening 
and  summer  schools,  business  colleges  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.  classes 
in  secular  subjects  show  a  large  proportion  of  strongly  inter- 
ested pupils. 

We  ought  not  to  be  surprised  that  schools  which  avail  them- 
selves of  this  strong  motive  get  the  best  work  from  their  pupHs, 
and  therefore  do  the  best  work  for  the  community.  All  of  us 
adults  do  our  best  work  in  the  world  under  the  impulsion  of 
the  life-career  motive.  Indeed,  the  hope  and  purpose  of  im- 
proving quality,  or  quantity,  or  both  in  our  daily  work,  with 
the  incidental  improvement  of  the  livelihood,  form  the  strong- 
est inducements  we  adults  have  for  steady,  productive  labor; 
and  the  results  of  labors  so  motived  are  riot  necessarity  mer- 
cenary, or  in  any  way  unworthy  of  an  intelligent  and  humane 
person. 

There  is  nothing  low  or  mean  about  these  motives,  and  they 
lead  on  the  people  who  are  swayed  by  them  to  greater  service- 
ableness  and  greater  happiness — to  greater  serviceableness,  be- 
cause the  power  and  scope  of  individual  productiveness  is 
thereby  increased — to  greater  happiness,  because  achievement 
will  become  more  frequent  and  more  considerable,  and  to  old 
and  young  alike  happiness  in  work  comes  through  achieve- 
ment." 

Practically  no  attempts  have  been  made  to  work  out  the  in- 
centives which  lead  students  to  study  outside  of  hours.'  If  these 
incentives  are  not  examined,  a  great  deal  is  lost  in  method.  If 
in  teaching  illiterates  or  foreigners  who  wish  to  gain  a  few  hun- 


54        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PJ,ANS  FOR  THE 

i 

dred  words  of  the  English  language,  we  begin  in  a  round-about 
way  such  as  we  would  use  in  teaching  grammar  to  children,  then 
these  foreigners  will  riot  go  to  the  evening  schools.  If  we  set 
them  upon  tasks  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  work  in 
hand,  it  will  be  increasingly  hard  for  them  to  become  interested 
in  this  work.  Says  "William  P.  Dooley  in  a  report  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts labor  bureau:  "Every  worker  attends  evening  school 
to  satisfy  a  definite  need;  hence  the  evening  school  instruction 
must  appeal  at  once.  The  teachers  must  offer  an  incentive  dur- 
ing the  first  lesson  in  order  to  hold  the  student,  and  that  first 
lesson  should  be  the  most  interesting  one,  presenting  the  prac- 
tical part  so  that  the  student  will  leave  the  class  having  gained 
some  information  about  his  daily  work.  For  example,  a  young 
machinist  who  has  received  a  reprimand  from  his  foreman  or  his 
overseer  because  he  cannot  read  a  working  drawing  with  suffi- 
cient skill  to  do  properly  his  daily  work,  enrolls  in  a  drafting 
class'  to  meet  that  deficiency  and  finds  that  the  first  two  lessons 
are  concerned  with  lettering  plates;  the  next  three  with  drawing 
straight  and  curved  lines,  and  the  handling  of  instruments,  and 
that  the  remainder  of  the  term  is  to  be  spent  on  the  projection  of 
points,  lines,  surfaces  and  solids.  During  this  time  he  is  receiv- 
ing in  his  daily  work  the  same  reprimands  and  is  therefore  de- 
bating in  his  own  mind  the  value  of  the  evening  instruction. 
The  average  machinist  does  not  see  the  direct  application  of  this 
instruction  to  his  work.  He  enrolled  for  a  definite  purpose. 
To  be  sure  it  was  a  narrow  one,  but  it  had  economic  value  to 
him.  It  would  have  been  possible  to  give  in  the  first  evening 
some  elementary  instruction  in  the  reading  of  simple  drawings 
and  teach  him  in  5  lessons  where  to  look  for  the  dimensions  de- 
noting length,  breadth  and  thickness '>  to  have  shown  the  prin- 
ciples of  simple  drawings  and  to  have  him  comprehend  the  lay- 
ing out  of  holes  for  drilling.  Instead  of  leaving  school  at  the 
end  of  five  lessons  with  no  instruction  which  appealed  to  him, 
he  would  have  remained  in  the  drafting  room  to  receive  the  more 
definite  and  thorough  instruction  in  the  theory  of  mechanical 
drawing  such  as  must  be  gained  if  one  is  fully  to  comprehend 
and  cover  the  entire  subject.  Courses  in  the  evening  school  for 
workers  must  be  elective  and  adaptable  to  varying  needs.  The 
course  of  study  should  specify  not  merely  arithmetic,  geometry, 
chemistry,  etc.,  but  should  read  arithmetic  for  textile  workers, 
arithmetic  for  machinists,  arithmetic  for  firemen  and  engineers, 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL,  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      55 

arithmetic  for  clerks,  chemistry  for  textile  workers,  etc.  This 
presentation  will  serve  not  only  to  catch  the  eye  but  will  offer  an 
incentive. ' ' 

With  the  greatest  care  in  the  choice  of  methods  and  the  great- 
est enthusiasm  upon  the  part  of  the  teacher,  the  percentage  of 
attendance  at  the  best  evening  school  tends  to  be  very  irregular 
and  with  but  a  moderate  average  attendance  each  evening, 
there  may  be  a  very  large  enrollment  during  a  very  few  months. 
Many  methods  have  been  used  to  counteract  this  irregularity, 
such  as  that  of  charging  a  fee  and  refunding  it  after  the  year 
is  over,  and  the  installation  of  all  sorts  of  social  attractions. 
England  has  perhaps  done  the  most  of  this  kind  of  work.  This 
whole  question  of  evening  schools  in  relation  to  children  under 
16  years  of  age,  brings  out  again  the  necessity  of  the  enactment 
of  a  law  modeled  upon  the  Scotch  law,  as  recommended  by  your 
commission.  If  it  becomes  necessary  to  have  evening  classes  for 
such  children  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  your  commission  be- 
lieves that  these  classes  will  fall  off  unless  some  sort  of  pro- 
vision similar  to  that  in  Scotland  is  kept  up  and  strictly 
enforced.  But  in  our  recommendation  leading  to  com- 
pulsion, we  must  not  neglect  those  other  incentives  which 
are  so  necessary  as  aids  to  compulsion.  If  we  have  the 
right  kind  of  teachers  and  if  we  use  methods  which  ex- 
perience has  shown  us  to  be  wise,  then  compulsion  will 
be  effectively  aided.  'Otherwise  we  shall  only  repeat  the 
dreary  history  of  the  past.  Groups  of  students  can  be  formed 
according  to  ages  and  occupations  and  the  whole  study  of  groups 
and  occupations  should  precede  state  aid  to  evening  schools  on 
a  large  scale.  For  instance,  it  is  found  nearly  everywhere  that 
the  older  men  object  to  being  in  the  same  classes  with  young 
boys.  They  feel  ashamed  of  it,  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  private 
schools  in  general  make  it  a  point  never  to  have  mixed  classes 
of  this  kind. 

The  difficulty  in  securing  the  right  kind  of  teachers  will  be 
a  serious  one.  It  will  be  impossible  to  use  the  average  school 
teacher  because  he  has  no  other  method  to  pursue  and  will 
learn  no  other  than  that  whicli  he  follows  in  the  day  time.  Per- 
haps also  we  must  not  follow  the  professional  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
.  teacher  too  closely.  He  is  too  much  inclined  to  do  away  with 
everything  that  interferes  with  ultimate  success  in  earning 
capacity,  yet  he  meets  the  difficulty  of  attendance  by  stimula- 
ting desire,  ambition,  curiosity,  ingenuity.  He  gets  at  the  in- 


56        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

terest  of  the  student  and  strives  to  keep  it.  No  public  school 
can  compete  successfully  with  a  private  school  unless  it  uses 
these  methods,  and  the  public  school  cannot  use  these  methods 
unless  it  gets  teachers  who  can  use  them,  and  in  order  to  obtain 
teachers  we  must  train  them  professionally.  The  methods  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  evening  school  teacher  are  all  right  if  they  meet 
the  broad  ends  of  education.  They  can  be  supplemented  by 
broader  teaching  in  a  few  scholastic  or  so-called  cultural  sub- 
jects. The  teachers  from  a  day  continuation  school,  such  as 
proposed  in  this  plan,  would  be  the  nearest  thing  to  the  suc- 
cessful teachers  of  private  schools.  Arrangements  could  be 
made,  so  that  by  shifting  teachers,  some  could  work  in  the 
evening  and  others  during  the  day. 

If  we  copy  the  Scotch  law,  and  furnish  state  aid  for 
centers  for  continuation  schools  and  form  evening  classes  upon 
the  basis  advocated  in  this  report,  we  may  be  as  successful 
with  boys  and  girls  and  with  adults,  as  the  limits  of  the  even- 
ing school  work  aUow.  Eventually,  however,  we  should  raise 
the  age  limit  provided  by  the  Scotch  law  to  18  years  of  age. 
The  boys  who  would  come  to  the  evening  school  would  be 
brighter  and  fresher  and  the  result  would  be  a  better  invest- 
ment for  the  state. 

Consider  again  for  a  moment,  some  of  the  social  activities 
which  private  institutions  have  provided  in  connection  with  the 
evening  school,  and  it  wi'l  be  understood  of  what  aid  these  at- 
tractions may  be  made  in  bringing  young  people  together  for 
serious  study  and  uplift,  and  what  a  force  against  evil  can  be 
encouraged  by  taking  over  some  of  these  attractions  with  the 
aid  of  public  funds.  As  a  counteracting  force  to  the  outside 
amusements  and  as  a  stimulus  to  the  jaded  mind,  lectures,  en- 
tertainments, music,  gymnasium,  athletic  teams,  bowling, — all 
have  been  used  in  private  evening  schools  with  success.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  these  private  evening  schools  often  act  as  employ- 
ment agencies  and  do  a  great  deal  in  the  way  of  giving  advice 
and  vocational  direction.  Now  these  things  are  all  gool 
advertisements  and  are  useful  in  inducing  people  to  attend 
these  schools,  but  it  is  equally  true,  that  in  many  cases 
they  may  become  serious  distractions  and  are  not  con- 
ducive to  hard,  thorough  study.  This  has  been  found 
true  unless  they  are  undertaken  with  moderation  and  unless 
the  chief  end  is  kept  in  view — that  of  higher  education  for 
the  working  man.  Nevertheless,  some  of  these  things  are  of 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      57 

the  greatest  educational  value.  The  debating  and  lecture  divi- 
sions of  the  University  extension  division  could  be  used  to  sup- 
plement the  regular  work  of  the  evening  school  and  could  have 
a  regular  place  in  the  credit  for  work  completed.  Not  the  least 
among-  such  activities  would  be  lectures  in  patriotism  and 
classes  in  citizenship,  such  as  are  carried  on  by  the  Peoples' 
institute  of  New  York,  and  the  Civic  service  house  of  Boston. 
The  latter  has  had  for  some  time  a  vocational  direction  bureau 
for  young  men  about  to  enter  the  industrial  life. 

Evening  schools  in  England. — Considering  what  we  have 
just  said  about  the  deficiencies  of  the  evening  school  in  this 
country,  a  striking  parallel  and  a  striking  confirmation  of  our 
investigation  is  the  result  of  our  study  of  evening  school  edu- 
cation in  England.  Without  compulsion  or  without  the  bene- 
fits of  time  off  during  the  day,  except  that  which  employers 
occasionally  give,  the  results  are  shown  by  the  following  de- 
scription of  conditions  in  England.  Charles  Winslow  of  the 
Massachusetts  commission,  wrho  made  an  investigation  of  these 
schools  in  England  quotes  an  important  member  of  the  Liver- 
pool Trades  Council  as  follows:  "We  have  practically  no  free 
technical  education  unless  a  boy  secures  a  scholarship,  and 
those  are  limited,  as  the  competition  for  them  proves.  We  ask 
the  boys  to  make  sacrifices  and  improve  themselves  by  attend; 
ing  evening  classes.  That  means  that  the  lad  has  frequently 
to  get  up  at  4:30  o'clock  and  go  to  work;  he  quits  work  at  5 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  swallows  a  mouthful  of  food  and  rushes 
to  his  classes.  We  require  him  to  do  that  three  nights  a  week. 
1  am  an  advocate  of  evening  schools  only  because  I  can  get 
nothing  better.  What  I  should  like  to  see  in  Liverpool  is  in- 
struction being  given  in  the  master's  time  and  -not  in  the  boy's 
time.  I  am  afraid  that  under  the .  commercial  system  "of  to-day 
instead  of  making  artisians  we  shall  be  making  automatac 
machines  merely,  that  will  be  the  curse  of  the  future.  Therein 
arises  the  necessity  for  technical  schools.  No  one,  I  venture  to 
assert,  can  gainsay  the  importance  and  excellence  of  the  work  of 
these  evening  schools ;  and  yet  the  general  public  is  comparative- 
ly indifferent  to  that  work.  Between  8000  and  9000  students 
only  have  entered  these  classes  during  the  past  session,  and  in 
proportion  to  our  population  in  comparison  with  other  cities, 
it  is  estimated  that  at  the  very  least  the  evening  schools  of 


58        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR 

Liverpool  should  have  15,000  pupils  in  them."  Shadwell,  in 
speaking  about  industrial  education  in  England  says:  "With 
the  universities,  the  national  physical  laboratory  and  the  com- 
ing imperial  college  at  Kensington,  it  is  not  schools  that  we 
lack,  but  scholars."  In  comparing  the  schools  of  Germany  and 
England,  he  says:  "When  comparisons  are  made  between  the 
number  of  students  of  engineering  in  science  schools  here  and 
in  Germany  or  elsewhere,  it  is  putting  the  boot  on  the  wrong 
leg  to  call  for  more  schools.  The  real  difference  lies  in  the 
lack  of  scholars." 

What  we  have  said  previously  about  the  failure  of  evening 
schools  is  driven  home  to  us  by  the  remarks  of  these  English- 
men. Industrial  education  in  England  is  largely  a  failure  be- 
cause the  Englishman  is  trying  to  do  the  impossible  and  will 
not  learn  new  methods,  and  does  not  see  that  the  evening 
school  is  not  the  best  form  of  education.  To  a  large  degree 
also  he  does  not  understand  the  methods  which  have  been 
worked  out  in  Germany  and  the  best  schools  in  America.  The 
wisdom  of  the  "teaching  by  doing"  method  has  been  apprecia- 
ted only  in  a  few  places.  The  testimony  in  the  report  of  the 
Massachusetts  commission  on  industrial  education  is  as  follows : 
"A  prominent  industrial  educator  remarked  that  he  had  visited 
Germany  to  study  the  educational  methods  of  that  country  and 
iiad  come  to  the  conclusi6n  that  the  English  system  of  educa- 
tion concerned  itself  more  with  reading  from  the  point  of  view 
of  literary  exercise  than  with  the  object  of  providing  for  re- 
quirements needed  in  a  business.  Also  that  arithmetic  was  re- 
garded as  a  sort  of  mental  .gymnastics  instead  of  means  of 
solving  problems  to  be  met  with  in  the  offices  or  workshops.  As 
a  rule,  arithmetic  often  proved  a  useful  agent  in  the  training 
for  a  commercial  career,  but  was  not  as  useful  to  a  student  if  he 
entered  the  workshop." 

All  testimony  shows  that  it  is  by  the  hardest,  most  persistent 
effort  that  any  great  number  can  be  brought  into  the  evening 
schools;  that  the  attendance  is  very  low  comparatively  and  the 
work  is  not  of  a  very  high  order,  except  in  Manchester  and  in 
places  where  the  manufacturers  have  given  a  certain  amount 
of  time  off  in  the  day.  Without  any  great  degree  of  success, 
almost  every  device  has  been  exhausted  in  order  to  put  life  into 
the  evening  school  and  to  get  first  class  results.  Says  the  bul- 
letin on  continuation  schools  ni  the  United  States,  speaking  of 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      59 

English  mehods:  "Various  methods  have  been  tried  to  secure 
more  regular  attendance  but  have  met  with  little  or  no  success. 
Returning  the  whole  or  part  of  the  fee,  annual  outings  or 
social  evenings  during  the  session,  lantern  entertainments  and 
concerts,  making  the  school  absolutely  free,  are  experiments 
which  have  only  been  successful  in  isolated  instances.  The  lack 
cf  any  real  liking  for  study,  of  any  desire  to  learn  on  the  part 
of  the  students,  and  counter-attractions  have  proved  too  strong." 
As  a  result  of  the  investigation  and  research  which  this  com- 
mission has  done,  and  from  the  experience  in  other  countries, 
we  find,  first,  that  the  evening  school  is  not  as  good  as  the  con- 
tinuation school;  second,  that  we  shall  probably  have  to  use 
the  evening  school  in  the  future  until  our  system  is  well  started, 
but  that  we  should  not  encourage  it  without  careful  supervision 
of  the  methods  and  the  teachers  who  teach  in  such  schools.  "We 
should  do  everything  in  our  power  to  bring  about  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  manufacturers  and  employers  in  the  matter  of 
granting  time  off  during  the  day  time  in  order  that  the  boys 
and  girls;  may  be  fresh  for  the  evening.  We  also  recommend 
that  all  illiterates  under  21  years  of  age  be  compelled  to  go  to 
evening  schools  wherever  they  are  established.  Evening  schools 
should  be  established  by  petition  as  in  Massachusetts.  If  25 
persons  petition  for  an  evening  school,  it  should  be  started.  As 
far  as  possible,  evening  school  work  should  be  supplemented  by 
lectures,  debates,  etc. 


TRADE  SCHOOLS 

Difficulties  relating  to. — The  third  factor  in  the  order  of  pro- 
gression is  the  trade  school.  In  most  cases  this  has  been  the  start- 
ing point  in  America.  It  is  easier  to  put  up  a  building  in  some 
city  than  it  is  to  work  out  a  combined  system  for  the  whole  city  or 
for  the  whole  state.  The  costly  building  and  equipment,  and  the 
many  questions  of  adaptability  and  methods  make  the  trade 
school  problem  the  most  serious  one  of  all  and  the  hardest  plan 
to  carry  out  properly.  In  the  case  of  the  trade  school,  we  come 
at  once  to  the  discussion  as  to  whether  trade  schools  should  be 
encouraged  in  America,  or  whether  high  schools  should  take  over 
the  trade  school  work.  There  are  those  who  believe  that  trade 
school's  should  not  be  established  and  that  the  high  school  ought 


GO       REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

to  do  industrial  work  of  this  kind.  We  know,  however,  from  our 
statistics  that  a  large  majority  of  boys  and  girls  will  never 
go  to  high  school,  and  for  this  majority  something  must  be  done. 

The  committee  on  industrial  and  technical  education  of  tin 
National  council  of  education  July  1,  1910,  says:  "From  the 
evidence  which  the  committee  has  obtained,  clearly  boys  who  en- 
ter mechanical  trades  almost  without  exception  leave  the  public 
schools  before  graduating  from  the  grammar  school,  and  it  should 
be  recognized  therefore  that  the  beginnings  of  trade  education 
if  such  education  is  to  articulate  with  our  present  school  system, 
must  be  had  in  schools  that  draw  their  pupils  largely  if  not  en- 
tirely from  the  class  of  pupils  who  have  not  graduated  from  the 
elementary  schools.  Such  schools, — intermediate,  industrial  or 
preparatory  trade  schools — cannot  be  really  paralleled  with  the 
existing  high  school.  In  order  to  prevent  possible  misunder- 
standing by  the  pupils  of  the  public  school,  the  intermediate  in- 
dustrial school  should  be  freely  recognized  as  independent  in 
its  requirements  for  admission  and  its  courses  for  study.  Its 
courses  of  instruction  must  be  short.  This  is  essential  if  some 
schools  are  to  come  within  the  economic  possibilities  of  boys  and 
girls  who  will  follow  manufacturing  trades."  This  brings  up 
the  questions:  What  specific  subjects. shall  be  taught?  What  is 
a  trade  ?  What  is  .industrial  education  ?  What  is  skill  ?  How 
can  we  give  such  training  and  yet  not  deprive  the  boy  of  the 
American  privilege  of  cutting  out  the  future  for  himself? 

The  establishment  of  a  trade  school  means  one  thing  in  one 
industry ;  it  means  another  thing  in  another  industry.  The  mer- 
est investigation  of  American  industrial  conditions  will  show  at 
once  that  the  leaders  of  today  in  our  great  industrial  enter- 
prises have  often  come  from  the  ranks  of  manual  skill  into  the 
ranks  of  managerial  skill.  If  that  is  so,  are  we  to  teach  merely 
mechanical  things  ?  If  we  do  not  teach  more,  how  broad  will  our 
education  be  to  fit  into  the  entire  life  of  the  people  ?  How  much 
individual  efficiency,  or  how  much  group  efficiency  must  be 
taught  ?  These  are  questions  which  have  never  been  thoroughly 
investigated  in  America.  To  some  the  learning  of  a  trade  means 
the  learning  of  a  few  mechanical  processes.  To  others  it  means 
a  thorough  grounding  in  fundamentals. 

Again  in  some  trades  boys  cannot  begin  at  14  years  of  age. 
Apprentices  are  not  taken  on  in  trades  such  as  those  of  locomotive 
engineers,  or  firemen,  or  stationary  engineers.  Most  of  these  are 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      61 

trades  where  the  apprentices  really  do  not  begin  to  learn  the 
trade  until  they  are  17  or  18  years  of  age.  They  are  not  physic- 
ally strong  enough.'  What  kind  of  an  intermediate  school  must 
we  provide  for  such  people?  The  trade  school  problem,  then, 
is  a  far  more  difficult  one  than  that  of  the  continuation  school. 
The  public  cannot  afford  to  put  all  of  its  money  into  a  costly 
building  to  educate  50  to  100  boys  in  a  community,  where  the 
same  money  spread  over  a  large  territory  will  educate  in  some 
degree  thousands  of  boys.  This  commission  has  sought  to  find 
some  way  of  combining  trade  schools  and  continuation  schools, 
evening  classes  and  extension  work  into  one  unified  and  economi- 
cal system.  Fortunately  .a  trade  school  can  be  so  built  and  con- 
ducted, that  by  combining  it  with  other  factors  of  industrial 
education  just  mentiontd,  its  efficiency  will  be  doubled  and 
its  economic  cost  brought  to  a  minimum.  It  can  be  so  combined, 
in  fact,  that  it  will  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  all  industries  and 
will  fill  in  the  gap  in  our  industrial  life  in  which  manual  train- 
ing fails. 

What  are  the  problems  of  the  trade  school  which  manual 
training  in  the  high  school  cannot  solve?  It  is  evident  that  the 
methods  which  we  described  in  the  discussion  of  the  evening 
school  can  be  applied  in  the  trade  school  much  better  than  in 
the  high  school.  It  is  evident  that  the  high  school  will  be  more 
or  less  dominated,  even  if  trade  education  is  brought  within  its 
walls,  by  any  effort  to  direct  that  trade  education  toward  engi- 
neering and  the  higher  kinds  of  technical  work.  The  trade 
school  then  is  necessary  in  order  to  get  the  point  of  view,  to  get 
the  right  atmosphere,  the  right  means  of  working,  the  right 
attitude  of  mind.  It  is  necessary  in  order  that  the  standards 
may  be  correlated  and  made  to  meet  the  particlular  needs  of  the 
particular  individual  in  direct  relation  to  his  life  work. 

Your  commission,  after  examination,  believes  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  separate  trade  schools  should  be  strongly  encour- 
aged in  every  city  of  the  first,  second  and  third  class  in  this 
state.  However,  a  careful  industrial  survey  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary before  any  such  cost  equipment  should  be  placed.  Trade 
schools  should  be  established' as  the  needs  arise,  and  by  the  co- 
operation of  the  community  and  the  state  in  a  manner  similar 
jto  the  Massachusetts  plan. 

A  recent  article  in  the  Survey  un  "How  Girls  Learn  the  Mil- 


62        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

linery  Trade,"  shows  us  the  need  of  caution  and  of  a  careful 
survey.  Should  there  be  schools  for  training  girls  for  special 
trades?  If  so,  at  what  age  is  it  desirable  that  girls  should  re- 
ceive this  trade  training  ?  Of  what  type  should  these  schools  be  ? 
For  example,  if  they  are  for  girls  between  14  and  16  years  of 
age,  should  they  be  day  schools  with  general  and  special  trade 
training,  or  day  schools  limited  to  special  training,  or  day 
schools  with  part  time  work  in  trade?  If  for  girls  over  16, 
should  they  be  special  technical,  or  trade  day  schools,  or  should 
they  be  evening  or  day  continuation  trade  schools  for  workers 
already  in  trades?  How  high  a  standard  should  they  demand 
for  their  teaching  force?  How  exacting  should  be  the  require- 
ments for  entrance  and  for  the  continued  attendance  of  pupils? 
How  discover  a  girl 's  aptitude  for  a  special  task  ?  How  supply 
the  demands  for  an  industry  which  wants  many  workers  who 
can  do  one  thing  well?  How  train  these  workers  so  that  they 
can  do  that  one  thing  and  yet  be  efficient  workers  in  the  broad 
social  sense?  How  should  they  test  their  pupils'  work  and  their 
own  methods? 

It  is  apparent  that  if  we  answer  all  these  questions  before  we 
attempt  to  establish  a  trade  school  we  shall  not  waste  public 
funds,  and  it  is  apparent  that  such  questions  cannot  be  answered 
unless  some  expert  advice  and  some  investigation  can  be  given 
in  each  particular  case,  for  the  trade  school  requirements  in  one 
place  and  in  one  occupation  will  be  absolutely  different  from 
those  in  other  situations.  They  cannot  be  standardized.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  your  commission  favors  a  gradual  evolution 
from  the  continuation  school  through  the  trade  school  as  the 
surest  means  of  getting  the  greatest  economy  in  industrial 
education. 

This  does  not  mean,  however,  that  the  trade  schools  and  con- 
tinuation schools  should  not  be  established  in  a  small  way  at  the 
same  time  in  certain  places  which  are  of  sufficient  size  to  con- 
tain enough  workers  for  such  demands.  The  building  trades, 
metal  trades  and  shoe  and  leather  works  in  Milwaukee  are  all  of 
sufficient  importance  to  justify  trade  schools.  Many  other  cities 
in  the  state  have  industries  which  we  know  at  once  would  be 
benefited  by  the  trade  school,  and  the  schools  could  be  made 
centers  for  all  other  work  by  means  of  the  task  system  as  de- 
scribed previously. 

Your  commission,  in  discussing  trade  schools,  does  not  use 
the  term'  narrowly.  It  means  to  the  commission  a  vocational 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      63 

school,  industrial  or  commercial.  The  schools  will  have  to  be 
established  sooner  or  later  in  this  country  and  in  our  state.  The 
great  lack  of  efficient  help  of  a  certain  grade  and  the  disor- 
ganized state  of  the  apprentice  system  to-day  will  compel  their 
establishment.  However,  how  far  they  will  go,  what  work  they 
will  do,  and  how  they  will  be  combined  with  our  other  educa- 
tional work,  are  as  yet  unsolved  questions. 

Two  different  opinions  seem  to  exist  in  the  world  today  as 
to  the  future  of  a  trade  school.  As  we  have  previously  said,  the 
trade  school  is  not  the  basal  unit  of  German  industrial  educa- 
tion. That  basis  is  the  continuation  school.  Dr.  Kerchen- 
steiner  of  Munich  says  that  the  tendency  of  the  future  will 
be  that  industrial  education  will  be  given  in  the  school  and  not 
in  the  factory.  He  holds  that  the  school  can  give  a  broad 
basis  for  the  future,  and  "that  a  shop  cannot  produce  a  good 
mechanic ;.  that  the  variety  and  prospective,  scope  and  range 
required  for  sound  industrial  education,  cannot  be  given  in 
a  factory  today.  He  holds  that  most  of  the  factories  are  un- 
able to  give  any  broad  educational  basis  to  their  students. 

On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  leading  authorities  today 
assert  that  the  trade  school  alone  never  can  produce  the  workers 
who  are  fitted  to  meet  industrial  wants.  They  point  out  that  in 
the  trade  school  the  pupil  does  not  work  under  actual  trade 
conditions,  that  he  is  often  wasteful  and  extravagant  in  ma- 
terial and  spends  too  long  a  time  at  each  task.  He  does  not 
learn  any  of  the  economies  which  the  pressure  of  shop  condi- 
tions makes  necessary.  The  criticisms  of  the  men  actually  in 
the  industry  are  worthy  of  attention,  and  no  doubt  they  have 
facts  on  which  to  base  what  they  say. 

In  the  article  before  mentioned  on  "How  Girls  Learn  the 
Millinery  Trade,"  attention  is  called  to  an  investigation 
made  in  New  York  showing  the  results  of  some  of  the  best  trade 
schools  for  girls  in  America.  After  interviewing.  200  of  the 
employers,  the  investigators  found  that  one-half  of  those  in- 
vestigated had  formed  positive  opinions  about  trade  school 
teaching.  "Only  three  expressed  unqualified  approval;  nearly 
one-fourth  were  indifferent;  more  than  one-half  disapproved. 
'They  don't  do  our  kind  of  work;'  'It  is  desirable  but  it  has  its 
limits;'  'They  don't  know  how  to  do  any  one  thing  well;'  'They 
don't  know  how;'  ' Schools  don 't  keep  up  with  the  styles;'  'The 
girls  are  not  quick  enough;'  'The  schools*  are  not  good  be- 


64        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

cause  they  are  not  business-like;'  'We  have  no  use  for 
trade  school  girls;  they  have  no  ideas  of  their  own;' 
'Undesirable;'  ' Measures  and  charts  are  not  used  in  work- 
rooms;' 'They  learn  how  to  make  only  one  hat;'  'The  schools 
are  no  good  but  they  ought  to  be.'  Manufacturers  in  all 
kinds  of  industries  who  have  been  interviewed,  on  the  whole, 
approve  of  trade  schools,  but  most  of  them  have  some  complaint 
and  all  are  striving  to  discover  wherein  lie  the  deficiencies.  It 
is  therefore  with  the  greatest  caution  that  we  should  advocate 
trade  schools  in  our  state.  Investigation  lust  be  thorough, 
a  keen  analysis  must  be  made  and  the  latest  up-to-date  elements 
of  success  must  be  studied.  It  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world 
to  dogmatize  about  a  trade  school;  but  from  the  investigation 
which  your  commission  has  made,  it  is  evident  that  trade 
schools  will  be  as  varied  as  are  the  trades,  and  that  there  will 
be  no  set  pattern  to  which  all  can  conform.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  in  some  trades  the  apprentice  system  combined  with  con- 
tinuation schools  and  the  various  other  methods  which  will  be 
described  later,  Avill  serve  the  purpose,  but  there  are  other 
cases  in  which  no  such  arrangement  can  be  made. 

A  workman  today  has  to  steal  his  trade  in  a  great  many  in- 
dustries, and  in  so  doing  he  has  created  trade  schools.  Trade 
schools  exist  today  in  great  numbers  and  at  great  cost ;  in 
fact,  every  factory  is  a  trade  school.  A  boy  steals  his  trade, 
and  by  doing  so  makes  the  manufacturer  pay  for  it.  He  gets  a 
position  by  misrepresentation  and  then  proceeds  to  try  a  machine 
and  of  course  spoils  and  wastes  until  found  out.  When  he  is 
discharged  he  proceeds  to  do  the  same  thing  again  in  some 
other  place,  until  finally  he  becomes  a  fair  workman  on  his 
machine  in  some  subdivision  ol  a  trade.  But  at  what  cost  to  the 
manufacturer,  to  industry,  and  to  the  public,  and  finally,  at 
what  cost  to  organized  labor ! 

In  an  article  in  one  of  the  bulletins  of  the  National  society 
for  the  promotion  of  industrial  education  a  factory  superin- 
tendent says :  ' '  Very  few  of  us  have  kept  an  account  of  the  cost 
of  the  trade  schools  which  we  are  maintaining  in  our  respective 
factories ;  of  the  actual  outlay  for  wages  never  earned,  for  the 
actual  loss  of  merchandise  damaged  while  learning,  and  the 
cost  of  superintendence."  Again,  the  report  of  the  Industrial 
education  commission  of  Massachusetts  says :  "The  net  results 
of  this  inability  tp  raise  up  skilled  workmen  is.  that  QW  fac^ 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      65 

tories  are  becoming  filled  with  unskilled  ignorant  laymen  and 
our  present  trouble  is  to  find  enough  men  to  direct  intelligently 
their  efforts.  In  some  lines  where  our  foreman  formerly  con- 
trolled 25  or  30  workmen,  he  can  now  direct  the  efforts  of  only 
6  or  8  of  these  machine  operators. ' '  In  the  bulletin  of  the  Na- , 
tional  society  for  industrial  education  we  read  again:  "The 
Manufacturer  is  additionally  handicapped  because  very  few 
operators  are  skilled  enough  to  take  proper  care  of  their  own 
machines.  A  superintendent  says:  'in  the  factory  where  I  am 
foreman  not  a  day  passes  but  what  some  operator  has  to 
have  assistance  in  keeping  his  machine  in  good  running  order.' 
There  are  plenty  of  operators  who  do  not  know  enough  about 
their  machines  to  lace  a  belt  or  put  it  on  after  it  is  laced.  Any- 
one who  has  had  experience  in  running  a  shop  knows  to  his 
sorrow  his  personal  inability  to  hire  proper  help  on  all  parts 
of  the  work." 

Attitude  of  organized  labor. — The  labor  organizations  are 
not  opposing  trade  schools.  They  realize  now  the  cost  of 
such  inefficient  labor  to  them,  as  well  as  to  the  manufac- 
turers. A  union  is  secure  if  its  men  are  skilled.  Unskilled 
labor  cannot  form  a  successful  union.  The  higher  the  skill  the 
greater  the  pay,  and  the  security,  and  the  higher  the  standard 
of  life.  It  is  obviously  to  the  interest  not  only  of  both  capital 
and  labor  but  of  the  public  as  well,  that  efficient  industrial 
instruction  be  given  through  the  trade  school  or  some  modifica- 
tion of  it. 

Organized  labor  will  not  oppose  trade  schools  in  which  car- 
penters, plumbers,  brick- .'avers  or  others  who  must  learn  a 
complete  trade  thoroughly,  are  taught;  that  is,  if  courses  oc- 
cupying a  certain  length  of  time  and  requiring  a  certain  degree 
of  thoroughness  before  the  boy  goes  out  to  work  are  assured. 
What  organized  labor  is  afraid  of,  is  the  reckless  and  indiscrim- 
inate establishment  of  so-called  trade  schools  which  only  inten- 
sify the  problem  of  the  unskilled  man. 

The  difficulty  in  shoemaking  is  at  once  apparent.  This  is 
a  trade  which  includes  from  60  to  100  different  processes.  It 
is  easy  for  a  man  to  pick  up  a  part  of  one  of  these  processes  in  a 
couple  of  months  and  if  trade  schools  were  formed  for  that 
single  process  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  would  soon  over- 
crowd thft  ranks  of  partially  skilled  and  inefficient  work' 


66        REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

men,  and  not  lead  to  that  high  basis  of  industrial  education 
which  is  sought  by  all  thinkers  and  students  of  the  subject. 

Again,  the  necessity  for  research  and  investigation  before  a 
trade  school  is  established  in  any  particular  trade  is  apparent, 
when  we  consider  the  following  complexities.  The  broad- 
minded  manufacturer  wants  men  who  can  fit  into  all  the 
grades  between  the  unskilled  laborer  and  the  engineers  and 
architects  at  the  top.  The  narrow-minded  manufacturer  will 
be  glad  to  get  all  kinds  of  partially  skilled  labor.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  there  is  some  justification  for  this.  He  is  often 
hard  put  to  it  to  get  a  man  who  can  run  a  machine,  let  alone 
an  expert  who  knows  all  about  a  machine,  or  a  group  of 
machines. 

There  are  certain  conditions  in  certain  kinds  of  factories 
which  require  nothing  but  speed  in  attending  to  machines. 
This  kind  of  speed  or  so-called  "skill"  cannot  be  worked  up 
in  the  trade  school  nor  should  a  trade  school  exist  for  forming 
a  medium  for  certain  employees  to  Acquire  speed.  Public 
funds  should  not  be  invested  to  bring  about  such  results.  The 
manufacturer  wishes  to  turn  out  workmen.  But  what  are 
workmen?  There  is  a  great  misunderstanding  between  the 
manufacturers,  and  the  union  upon  this  question.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  best  of  the  union  men  and  the  best  of  the 
manufacturers  are  seeking  the  same  purpose ;  they  are  seeking 
skill  and  responsibility  and  initiative  ;•  they  are  seeking  a  higher 
order  of  man  than  is  now  turned  out  by  our  industrial  system. 
There  is  nothing  inconsistent  in  the  recommendations  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  at  Toronto  and  the  following 
quotation  from  the  recent  report  in  July,  1910,  of  the  Committee 
on  industrial  education  of  the  American  Manufacturers'  asso- 
ciation. Says  Mr.  Anthony  Ittner  in  that  report:  ""We  propose 
to  make  the  boy  a  skilled  workman,  superior  to  his  father  in 
efficiency  and  shop  experience.  We  propose  also  to  give  him, 
during  the  time  he  is  learning  a  trade,  more  and  better  school- 
ing than  his  father  was  able  to  get,  and  consequently  the  boy 
can  go  directly  from  the  trade  school  to  a  good  wage-earning 
position  in  any  shop  simply  upon  his  own  merit. " 

The  manufacturer  really  needs  and  knows  that  it  is  for  his 
interest  to  get  this  kind  of  a  workman.  A  !few  years  ago  he 
could  import  this  kind  of  workman  from  Europe,  but  the 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      67 

conditions  there  have  become  so  good  that  such  workmen  do 
not  come  to  this  country  as  formerly,  although  the  statistics 
show  that  in  certain  highly  skilled  trades  in  America  the 
workmen  are  still  nearly  all  of  foreign  birth  and  training. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  order  to  have  no  misundestanding  be- 
tween labor  and  capital  in  this  state,  with  the  help  of  some 
sort  of  expert  commission,  as  recommended  in  this  re- 
port, agreements  should  be  reached  before  a  trade  school 
is  started  in  any  particular  trade.  For  instance,  if  it  is  desired 
to  run  out  skilled  workers,  and  the  question  comes  up  as  to  what 
are  skilled  workers,  it  should  Nbe  determined  at  once  with  the 
highest  good  of  the  trade  and  of  the  public  in  view.  In  the 
article  referred  to  above,  upon  "How  Girls  Learn  the  Millinery 
Trade,"  we  find  the  following  quotation:  "All  employers 
want  skilled  workers.  The  Fifth  avenue  employer  who  wants  a 
girl  to  copy  an  imported  hat  wants  a  skilled  worker;  the  Broad- 
way firm  which  advertises  for  a  copyist  of  ready-to-wear  hats 
wants  a  skilled  worker;  the  retail  milliner  who  wants  to  hire 
frame  workers  wants  skilled  workers;  the  manufacturing  house 
that  needs  25  wire  frame  makers  wants  skilled  workers.  Few 
girls  possess  all  these  kinds  of  skill.  Few  firms  agree  upon  their 
definitions  of  a  skilled  worker.  The  girl  at  the  end  of  a  few 
years  in  millinery  is  willing  to  agree  with  the  employer  who 
said  that  the  'millinery  trade  is  about  25  different  trades/  " 
Exactly  the  same  kind  of  thing  can  be  said  about  the  boot  and 
shoe  work  and  about  a  great  many  other  trades.  It  is  evident 
that  a  good  deal  of  this  so-called  skilled  work  is  not  what 
the  trade  school  should  or  can  teach,  but  it  will  be  agreed  to  at 
once  that  the  trade  school  should  teach  men  responsibility, 
should  teach  men  so  that  they  can  advance,  become  captains 
of  machines,  become  foremen.  There  is  no  real  disagreement 
upon  that  point  in  any  trade,  either  among  the  thinkers  like 
John  Mitchell  on  the  side  of  labor  or  Mr.  Ittner  upon  the  side 
of  capital.  We  must  teach  these  things  in  a  broad  way  in  our 
trade  school,  or  else  the  taxpayers  will  not  get  proper  returns 
for  their  investiment  in  the  end,  and  the  state  will  not  get  the 
benefit  of  the  existence  of  a  great  body  of  happy,  contented 
workmen  with  a  true,  high  standard  of  life.  "We  must,  in  Some 
cases,  teach  correlation  between  parts  of  trades.  We  must 
teach  "ability  to  comprehend  complex  relations,  to  correlate 
without  friction  and  without  waste,  the  factors  of  industry ;  to 


68        KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

make  an  industrial  organization  a  smoothly  working  machine." 
The  brassmakers  of  Birmingham  recently  sent  a  delegate  to 
Germany  to  examine  conditions  there.  They  say:  "We  have 
frequently  been  asked,  'Wherein  lies  the  cause  of  the  better 
social  conditions  of  the  Berlin  brassworker  ? '  The  answer  is 
summed  up  in  the  words:  'duty,  responsibility,  descipline, 
work,  order  and  method.'  These  qualities  are  much  in  evidence 
among  the  officials  and  employers  of  labor,  and  the  work- 
people." Your  commission  believes  that  the  product  of  our 
trade  schools  should  be  up  to  the  standard.  But  we  must  do 
more.  We  must  give  vision  and  perspective  to  our  men;  we 
we  must  keep  up  the  spirit  of  Americanism  of  the  past.  W£ 
cannot  teach  this  by  teaching  some  kind  of  skill  or  dexterity  in 
running  one  machine ;  we  must  give  industrial  training  and  also 
encourage,  inspire  and  swing  the  doors  wide  for  equality  of  in- 
dustrial opportunity  in  the  future.  If  a  situation  arises  like 
the  above,  it  is  not  the  schoolman  who  can  settle  it.  It  must 
be  settled  in  the  first  instance  at  least  by  agreement  between 
capital  and  labor. 

We  teach  the  elements  of  managerial  skill  while  we  are 
teaching  manual  dexterity.  We  read  the  following  from  the 
report  of  the  committee  of  the  Society  for  the 'promotion  of  en- 
gineering education :  "It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  many  of 
our  most  ingenius  and  capable  machinists  and  mechanical  in- 
ventors, who  have  become  the  proprietors  of  the  finest  machine 
tool  works  in  the  woTld,  have  had  no  special  technical  education, 
but  have  come  up  through  the  old  system  of  apprenticeship." 
Whatever  other  countries  have  done,  this  spirit  of  progress 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  this  encouragement  of  ambition, 
which  has  made  America  lead  in  the  past,  should  be  kept, 
and  the  trade  schools  should  keep  it.  To  accomplish  its  true 
aim  the  trade  schools  should  be  the  means  of  inspiring  men  to 
try  to  climb  the  ladder.  The  union  man  and  the  manufacturer 
are  in  sympathy  with  this  point  of  view  and  can  be  trusted  to 
preserve  this  spirit. 

The  union  men  with  good  right  can  insist  that  these  ele- 
ments be  taught  in  the  trade  school  whenever  such  schools  are 
established.  The  union  does  not  want  industrial  training  simi- 
lar to  manual  training  as  it  exists  in  the  high  school,  and  does 
not  want  skill  which  will  merely  overcrowd  a  trade  and  not 
teach  the  fundamentals  of  it;  it  wants  this  element  of  inspire 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  DRAINING*.      69 

tion,  this  helpful  broadening  and,  at  the  same  time,  an  educa- 
tion which  will  allow  the  man  to  earn  his  own,  living  as  soon  as 
possible.  How  dangerous  a  trade  school  may  become  to  the 
working-man  and  to  the  highest  needs,  after  all,  of  our  entire  in- 
dustrial system,  is  shown  by  statistics  given  in  the  article  above 
quoted  on  "How  Girls  Learn  the  Millinery  Trade,"  from  the 
Survey  of  April  16,  1910.  In  a  footnote  we  find  the  following : 
"A  statement  in  the  Millinery  Trade  Review,  the  official  journal 
of  the  trade  after  quoting  census  figures  showing  that  in  1890 
there  was  one  milliner  to  323  women  15  years  of  age  and  over, 
and  in  1900,  1  in  285,  adds  if  the  manual  training  school  and 
technical  institutions  continue  to  turn  out  milliners  in  the  next 
ten  years  as  they  have  in  the  last  decade,  there  will  be  one 
milliner  to  every  100  women  in  the  not  far  distant  future." 
All  will  agree  that  the  union  man  has  a  right  to  be  protected 
against  this  sort  of  trade  education  which  produces  crowding 
into  unskilled  trades  without  furnishing  any  basis  for  an  hon- 
orable living  for  the  future. 

The  unions  "realize  that  their  power  and  safety  comes  from 
having  the  gap  between  skilled  and  unskilled  labor  just  as  wide 
as  possible,  and  any  agency  that  will  help  to  widen  that  gap  by 
making  skilled  labor  more  effective  and  efficient,  they  will  wel- 
come. They  will  oppose  any  school  that  seeks  to  turn  out 
large  numbers  of  half  trained  men  who  will  tend  to  lower 
their  standard  of  average-  ability  and  capacity.  The  good 
judgment  of  the  American  workman  will  make  him  see  in  the 
school  that  helps  to  lift  and  uphold  the  standard  of  his  trade, 
the  most  potent  ally  that  has  been  offered  him."  (Editor  of  the 
Shoe  Technical  Journal). 

The  unions  will  favor  public  trade  education  rather  than 
private  trade  education  and  there  are  certain  principles  upon 
which  this  preference  is  based.  First,  the  union  wants  to  do 
away  with  the  necessity  of  a  man  stealing  his  trade.  In  this, 
it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the  manufacturer  and  the  workman 
agree.  Both  are  united  upon  this  question  of  providing  means 
for  a  man  to  learn  a  trade  in  an  honorable  way.  Secondly, 
the  union  man  favors  public  education  because  he  thinks  he 
should  not  be  compelled  to  learn  a  trade  through  some  kind  of 
favoritism.  He  will  oppose  any  trade  education  or  any  system 
of  it,  which  may  involve  even  the  possibility  or  shadow  of 


70        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

favoritism.  It  is  this  which  makes  the  union  very  cautious 
about  going  into  part  time  schemes. 

In  England  very  little  attention  is  paid  to  "the  education  of 
men  who  are  not  already  in  the  trade.  The  labor  union  leaders 
there  all  express  the  opinion  that  the  emphasis  should  be  laid 
upon  the  education  of  men  who  are  already  in  some  kind  of 
work.  They  are  opposed  to  the  training  of  green  labor,  as 
a  general  policy.  Of  course  the  continuation  schools  recom- 
mended in  this  report  would  provide  for  this  kind  of  work 
and  the  evening  school  would  also  provide  for  it  to  a  cental n 
extent.  But  our  American  labor  union  people  take  a  broader 
stand.  They  do  not  want  to  see  their  sons  excluded  from  learn- 
ing a  trade,  if  they  wish  to  do  so;  and  want  some  sort  of  a 
public  way  of  giving  them  the  opportunity.  As  it  is  now  in 
certain  industries,  notably  in  the  shoe  center,  Brockton,  Mass., 
(which  is  highly  unionized)  there  is  no  way  of  learning  a  trade 
in  the  city,  and  there  is  no  public  school  for  that  purpose. 
The  union  labor  man  sees  himself  in  a  peculiar  position.  A  man 
has  no  chance  to  send  his  boy  where  he  can  get  the  vocational 
training  which  he  desires.-  If  he  goes  into  a  factory,  he  must 
take  the  chance  of  stealing  a  trade.  However,  the  demand  for 
labor  is  satisfied  by  men  who  have  learned  the  trade  or  some 
part  of  it  in  some  small  manufacturing  establishment  in  another 
part  of  the  country.  After  a  man  has  learned  some  part  of 
the  trade  he  will  then  go  to  Brockton  and  the  union  must 
sooner  or  later  admit  him  because  he  is  a  serious  menace  if  al- 
lowed to  float  around.  In  this  way  the  son  of  the  union  labor 
man  is  deprived  of  his  opportunity  to  learn  a  trade  and  his 
place  is  taken  by  an  outsider  who  has  stolen  it  at  the  cost 
of  the  small  outside  manufacturer.  The  American  mechanic 
then,  welcomes  any  fair  proposition  which  will  give  him  a 
chance  to  educate  his  boy  so  that  he  can  earn  a  living. 

There  is  a  possible  use  of  the  trade  school  which  is  of  vital 
interest  to  the  trade  union  men  just  at  present.  There  is  one 
unfortunate  situation  which  is  constantly  recurring,  and  that 
is  the  case  of  a  man  who  has  been  working  at  a  machine  his  en- 
tire life  and  finally  finds  that  'this  machine  has,  suddenly  gone 
out  of  existence  because  of  a  new  invention.  When  a  machine 
is  worn  out  and  a  new  invention  comes  in  the  man  is  also 
practically  worn  out,  and  is  thrown  upon  the  scrap  heap.  A 
branch  of  the  trade  school  work  is  necessary  which  will  deal 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      71 

merely  with  the  question  of  skill  of  a  limited  degree  and  not 
with  the  broad  question  of  industrial  education.  If  a  man 
is  knocked  out  at  45  years  of  age  and  can't  get  a  job  on  a 
machine,  something  must  be  done.  It  means  utter  demoraliza-. 
tion  for  his  family;  it  prevents  the  attainment  of  a  higher 
standard  of  living  for  the  workman;  he  can  neither  buy  his 
home  nor  educate  his  children.  Other  workers  will  observe  what 
has  happened  to  him,  become  discouraged,  seeing  no  hope  nor 
opportunity  before  them,  and  consequently  become  discontented 
elements  in  the  ranks  of  labor.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  state  and 
public  educational  institutions  to  reach  out  a  hand  to  this  man 
and  lift  him  over  the  stile.  In  the  past  in  some  trades  or 
parts  of  trades,  the  unions  have  done  this  themselves.  Notably 
in  the  printers  trade,  when  the  new  linotype  machine  came  in 
and  replaced  the  hand  work,  the  printers  put  up  machines  in 
their  quarters  and  taught  the  old  men  the  new  machines.  The 
same  thing  was  attempted  when  the  plain  loom  became  the 
fancy  loom,  and  also  in  the  case  of  the  moulding  machine.  It 
is  admitted  by  most  labor  leaders  that  this  arrangement  can  be 
carried  out  in  some  trades. 

If  it  is  properly  organized  the  trade  school  will  be  ac- 
cepted by  the  public  as  a  great  democratic  school,  helping  the 
ordinary  man  to  meet  the  ordinary  duties  of  life.  To  be  a 
great  democratic  school,  it  must  be  something  more  than  a 
trade  school  or  an  industrial  school.  As  Professor  Person  says 
in  his  book  upon  industrial  education:  "A  system  of  industrial 
education  for  instance,  must  not  be  a  rigid,  inflexible  instru- 
ment, attempting  to  shape  all  the  individuals  it  touches  after 
the  same  image.  It  must  accentuate  differences  of  ability  and 
of  temperament ;  it  must  build  up  individuality. ' '  There  is  no 
greater  work  which  the  Germans  have  done  for  their  country 
than  this  building  up  of  individuality  through  the  industrial 
schools.  The  class  distinctions  of  Germany  are  being  rapidly 
demolished  by  an  education  which  allows  every  man  to  make 
the  most  of  himself;  an  education  which  puts  a  reward  upon 
merit  and  ability,  initiative  and  brain  power;  an  education 
which  allows  a  man  to  rise  up  through  the  ranks  and  gives 
him  the  intellectual  basis  for  advancement. 

We  need  not  only  the  responsible  man  as  a  product  of  the 
trade  school  but  we  need  also  the  responsible  man  as  a  citizen 
in  our  state.  The  industrial  conditions  which  we  have  today, 


72        BEPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR 

the  minute  division  of  labor,  the  fact  that  workmen  feel  that 
they  have  got  to  make  their  money  and  make  it  quickly  or  else 
be  thrown  out  by  old  age,  the  dullness  from  automatic  actions 
incident  to  machine  tending,  etc.,  must  be  overcome  by  inspira- 
tion, the  teaching  of  self-respect  and  the  dignity  of  labor. 
Says  the  report  of  the  Wisconsin  Bureau  of  Labor,  1910:  "Gen- 
erally speaking,  those  industries  which  require  the  least  mental 
effort  attract  a  class  of  employees  who  are  lax  in,  morals.  This, 
in  a  measure,  accounts  for  the  evil  reputation  of  certain  candy 
and  box  factories."  If  our  industrial  education  touches  only 
on  those  trades  which  are  really  trades,  and  does  not  strive  to 
bring  with  it  a  moral  uplift  in  all  such  occupations,  and  does 
not  meet  the  real  conditions  of  the  great  mass  of  subdivided 
industries  where  automatic  skill  is  used,  then  it  has  missed, 
to  a  great  extent,  its  aim.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  trade  school  so  that  it  will  accomplish  all  this, 
is  a  difficult  task  and  one  to  be  approached  -with  great  care, 
but  no  industrial  school  system  is  successful  unless  it  does 
this  very  work. 

Says  the  bulletin  of  the  National  society  for  the  promotion 
of  industrial  education:  "It  is  a  difficult  problem  to  discover 
the  kind  of  training  which  shall  be  of  direct  value  to  the  vast 
majority  of  industrial  workers  who  are  doing  piece  work  on 
an  automatic  machine,  who  perform  a  single  operation  of  the 
101  in  the  factory,  who  apparently  require  in  their  work 
knowledge  of  that  single  operation  only,  a  training  which  may 
require  but  a  day  to  master,  and  perhaps  only  a  few  minutes." 
But  as  we  have  combined  this  training  with  the  continuation 
schools,  and  other  forms  of  educational  advancement  advo- 
cated in  this  report,  it  is  believed  by  your  commission  that 
much  can  be  accomplished,  and  in  the  end  the  problem  solved, 
although  much  experimentation  will  be  necessary  and  no  one 
remedy  will  be  a  cur  call. 

The  manufacturer,  who  points  to  our  advantage  in  tool  ma- 
chinery and  says  that  we  can  hold  our  own  in  the  markets 
of  the  world  because  we  can  make  the  machine  supply  the  place 
of  the  man,  is  near-sighted.  He  shows  a  lack  of  knowledge  of 
history.  "What  he  takes  for  efficiency  in  certain  standardized 
products,  however  wonderful  they  may  be,  does  not  demonstrate 
his  thesis.  The  machine  never  can  take  the  place  of  the  man, 
any  more  than  the  splendid  machinery  of  a  war  vessel  can 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      73 

take  the  place  of  the  brain  behind  the  gun.  The  man  behind 
the  machine  as  well  as  the  man  behind  the  gun  is  needed  if 
our  civilization  is  going  to  last,  and  although  a  crowd  of  men 
doing  automatic  machine  processes  by  tending  machines,  may 
seem  to  some  to  be  the  acme  of  civilization,  yet  in  the  long  run, 
the  greater  and  more  complex  the  machine  the  greater  the 
sum  of  intelligence  necessary  to  get  from  it  the  greatest  effi- 
ciency. 

There  are  those  who  believe  that  in  the  near  future,  individual 
skill  will  be  an  increasing  element  in  the  intensive  production 
of  manufactured  articles.  We  are  passing  from  the  stage  of  ex. 
tensive  agricultural  production  to  intensive  production,  and  the 
same  thing  no  doubt  will  happen  in  manufacturing,  or  at  least 
it  is  certain  that  there  will  be  more  intensive  production  in  large 
scale  manufacturing.  We  cannot  always  keep  on  producing 
standardized  forms.  We  cannot  always  exist  with  few  generals 
and  nothing  else  but  common  soldiers,  but  we  must  have  officers 
of  all  ranks  and  all  degrees  of  skill; — the  more  complex  the 
machinery,,  the  greater  will  be  the  number  and  the  greater  the 
variety  of  responsible  and  skilled  subordinates. 

The  president  of  the  Casino  Technical  Night  School  of  East 
Pittsburg,  Pa.,  says:  "The  age  of  extreme  mechanical  spe- 
cialization is  passing.  The  large  manufacturing  concerns  are 
endeavoring  to  make  all-round  mechanics  of  their  apprentices. 
The  great  cry  is  for  workmen  who  can  use  their  heads;  who 
are  more  than  mere  routine  duplicators ;  who  can  take  hold  of 
new  work  and  do  it  right  the  first  time  they  try  it.  Manu- 
facturers are  also  finding  out  that  their  workmen  are  human  and 
that  a  man  with  a  future  of  trade  advancement  *  *  be- 
fore him,  with  independence  and  pride  in  his  work  and  with 
civic  interest  in  his  community  will  do  more  work  and  do  it 
better  than  the  mechanically  operated  machine  man  specialist. 
Absolute  specialization  will  kill  the  best  impulses  of  human  na- 
ture and  ruin  the  development  of  our  national  endeavor  both 
industrially  and  socially. ' '  The  need  for  group  efficiency  is  ap- 
parent in  all  this  discussion. 

The  German  does  not  use  the  machine  in  place  of  the  mar 
to  the  extent  to  which  we  do  here,  and  perhaps  in  the  future 
this  will  be  an  advantage  rather  than  a  disadvantage  to  him. 
At  least,  it  seems  that  the  great  investment  made  in  the 
s.]dU  of  individuals  in  Germany  would  lead  in  time,  to  a  higher 


74        KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

collective  skill,  a  more  intense  productiveness  and  efficiency  in 
a  variety  of  manufactures  where  the  element  of  personality 
and  individual  skill  must  eventually  determine  success.  Frank 
A.  Vanderlip  in  his  article  in  the  World's  work  for  June,  1906, 
says:  "Notwithstanding  all  of  our  advantages  we  are  beginning 
to  find  that  there  are  countervailing  losses.  While  we  have 
made  it  possible  for  the  unskilled  man  to  tend  the  machine  and 
turn  out  the  product  with  wonderful  economy,  we  are  now  be- 
ginning to  find  that  keeping  that  man  confined  to  tending  the 
machine  and  giving  him  no  intellectual  interest  in  his  work 
and  no  opportunity,  with  the  narrowest  outlook  upon  the  field  of 
industry  in  which  he  is  engaged,  we  have  unintentionally  taken 
almost  certain  means  to  prevent  his  mental  and  technical  devel- 
opment. We  have  of  late  heard  much  of  the  call  of  the  employer 
for  skilled  men  to  supervise  work.  We  have  heard  employers  re- 
mark that  while  the  lowest  paid  ranks  of  our  workmen  are 
fully  supplied,  they  have  the  greatest  difficulty  in  finding  men 
to  fill  the  higher  positions.  The  reason  is  of  course  most 
obvious.  Men  need  training  to  become  skillful.  They  must 
have  variety  of  work  .if  their  outlook  and  technical  skill  are 
to  have  breadth.  They  must  know  something  of  the  principles 
if  they  are  to  have  valuable  original  ideas.  I  believe  we  have 
failed  utterly  to  grasp  the  problem  of  the  relation  between 
education  and  our  industrial  development  and  prosperity." 
All  of  this  shows  us  the  difficulties  of  the  trade  school  prob- 
lem. If  it  does  not  meet  all  these  varied  conditions  in  an  in- 
telligent and  efficient  maner,  the  trade  school  may  be  an  eco- 
nomic loss  instead  of  a  gain  to  us.  Whatever  such  schools 
should  be,  they  should  not  be  narrow.  The  narrowness  of  the 
industrial  experience  and  of  the  outlook  and  perspective  ol 
the  ordinary  man,  is  the  chief  reason  why  trade  schools  should 
be  established.  This  narrowness  should  not  be  continued  in 
the  trade  school.  If  a  boy  enters  a  trade  school  and  there 
picks  up  superficial  knowledge  enough  to  go  to  work  as  a 
journeyman  after  a  few  months,  it  will  not  be  long  before  such 
a  conception  of  a  trade  school  will  disgust  the  public  or  be  re- 
placed b'y  a  broader  and  more  intelligent  conception.  Of  super- 
ficial standards  and  superficial  skill,  there  will  always  be 
enough.  It  is  not  the  dearth  of  this  kind  of  labor  that  manu- 
facturers can  deplore  with  any  good  ground,  because  it  is  the 
easiest  to  get  and  train ;  it  is  for  the  many  grades  above  those 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      75 

who  possess  this  minimum  skill  for  whom  provision  must  be 
made.  It  should  not  be  so  broad  that  a  man  is  not  fitted 
to  earn  a  better  living  at  the  conclusion  of  it,  or  at 
least  has  not  the  foundation  necessary  for  a  better  wage. 
The  problem  is  one  for  profound  study,  not  only  for  the 
teacher  but  for  the  economist.  It  is  a  problem  for  gradual 
evolution,  for  co-operation  between  manufacturers  and  em- 
ployers. Standards  should  be  fixed  by  both  and  kept.  If  the 
manufacturers  refuse  to  hire  a  boy  who  has  been  in  a  trade  school 
unless  he  has  a  certificate  of  efficiency;  if  they  can  make  such 
an  agreement  and  will  not  hire  men  unless  such  certificates  are 
produced,  this  will  be  one  great  step  forward.  It  will  prevent 
the  influx  of  boys  into  trade  schools  who  have  no  purpose 
except  that  of  staying  a  few  weeks  in  order  to  pick  up  some 
knowledge  of  one  machine.  The  trade  school  cannot  succeed 
unless  the  employers  and  employees  combine,  co-operate  and 
study  the  problem  and  then  mutually  insist  upon  the  standards 
which  are  made.  The  conception  of  the  Massachusetts  plan, 
by  which  the  years  between  14  and  16  can  be  taken  up  with 
broad  fundamental  education  directly  related  to  the  conditions 
of  industry  and  the  last  two  years  from  16  to  18  be  used  as 
a  time  when  greater  skill  and  even  manual  dexterity  can  be 
insisted  upon,  seems  to  be  a  good  solution  of  this  question.  It 
is  in  the  first  two  years  that  the  fundamentals  may  be  laid 
which  later  on  may  lead  to  managerial  skill.  For  instance, 
if  all  stenographers  were  given  a  better  vocational  foundation 
in  business  subjects  between  14  and  16  years  of  age  and  then 
were  given  a  year  or  two  to  acquire  skill,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  ranks  of  stenographers  would  not  be  crowded  by  the  al- 
most useless,  low  paid  girls  who  have  no  future  before  them. 

Your  commission  has  prepared  bills  which  provide  for  state 
aid  to  trade  schools,  the  establishment  of  trade  schools,  and  for 
an  investigation  of  the  industrial  local  conditions,  so  that  the 
data  will  be  obtained  upon  which  later  classification  can  be 
based. 


APPRENTICE  SYSTEM 

For  a  long  while  manufacturers  have  tried  to  rehabilitate  the 
old  apprentice  system.  They  are  trying  to  do  this  now  in 
England.  A  great  many  employers  in  this  country  who  have 


76        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

tried  the  old  apprentice  system  say  that  it  will  not  work  in 
America.  Another  class  of  employers  are  equally  positive  that 
an  apprentice  system  can  'be  worked  out  which  will  be  of  ser- 
vice here.  In  fact,  they  are  now  working  it  out.  We  have  been 
completely  discouraged  as  to  the  old  apprentice  system  and 
recently  we  have  received  a  good  deal  of  encouragement  as  to 
the  new  system.  As  there  is  an  opportunity  for  good  pay  by 
stealing  a  trade  and  obtaining  work  at  once,  most  boys  do 
not  want  to  go  through  a  long  apprenticeship  of  the  old  fash- 
ioned kind,  especially  when  the  wages  which  the  boy  receives 
when  he  finishes  his  term  of  indenture  are  not  greater  than 
those  of  some  man  who  has  stolen  his  trade,  or  those  of  some 
"handy-man"  who  has  picked  up  a  machine  in  a  "rush" 
period  and  who  by  sheer  pluck  and  ingenuity  "made  good"  at 
it.  This  is  especially  true  of  our  American  boys.  Quick  and 
alert,  they  are  able  to  get  quick  results  and  high  pay  by 
stealing  a  trade  and  thus  obtaining  work  at  once.  The 
result  of  this  is  that  most  boys  do  not  care  to  become 
apprentices,  and  we  are  not  turning  out  the  thorough  work- ^ 
men  of  the  old  standard.  In  fact,  if  a  man  asks  for 
a  job  in  a  shoe  factory  today  and  tells  the  employer  that  he 
is  a  shoemaker,  it  is  very  probable  that  he  will,  not  get  a  job  un- 
less he  can  show  skill  in  one  particular  process.  What  is 
wanted  is  rapid  workers  at  some  particular  part  of  the  trade. 
Again  it  is  apparent  that  a  definition  of  "apprentice"  and  a 
definition  of  "trade"  is  necessary  in  every  particular  occupa- 
tion. In  fact,  many  employers  say  that  they  cannot  get  regu7ar 
apprentices,  and  Mr.  Draper,  commissioner  of  education  for  the 
state  of  New  York  is  the  authority  for  the  statement  that  there 
are  many  less  apprentices  in  the  trades  than  the  rules  of  labor 
organizations  allow.  However,  a  good  many  industries  still 
maintain  apprenticeship,  and  in  them,  rules  are  fairly  well 
kept.  This  is  notary  so  among  bricklayers,  carpenters,  plumb- 
ers and  others.  If  there  is  any  trouble  with  the  apprentice- 
ship system  in  these  latter  trade?,  .it  is  because  they  adhere  too 
closely  to  the  manual  and  technical  side  and  do  not  do  enough 
in  the  teaching  of  the  broader  things  which  are  essential  to  a 
more  complete  comprehension  of  the  work.  For  instance,  a 
man  may  be  apprenticed  to  a  bricklayer  and  have  very  little 
knowledge  of  building  construction  or  drawing  or  business 
arithmetic,  but  he  could  have  these  taught  to  himi  This  ap- 
prenticeship system  can  be  worked  out  very  satisfactorily  in 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      77 

these  latter  trades  in  conjunction  with  continuation  schools. 
The  difficulty  arises  in  the  more  sub-divided  trades  where  the 
handy-man,  extra  man,  or  the  man  who  steals  his  trade  pre- 
dominates. The  compulsory  continuation  school  as  outlined 
previously  will  do  very  well  up  to  16  years  of  age,  but  as  we 
have  already  learned,  some  of  these  trades  do  not  take  ap- 
prentices before  16  years  of  age.  The  right  kind  of  an  appren- 
ticeship system  in  these  sub-divided  trades  will  furnish  the 
means  of  broadening  the  knowledge  of  the  workmen  and'  fill- 
ing in  a  gap  in  industrial  education. 

The  finest  tning  in  the  workman  is  his  ambition,  his  desire 
for  fine  work  of  an  artistic  quality,  and  his-  pride  in  his  trade. 
If  the  comprehension  of  the  whole  trade  is  denied  him  by 
a  system  of  apprenticeship  wrhich  does  not  carry  with  it  a  knowl- 
edge of  these  elements,  then  that  apprenticeship  system  is  in- 
deed of  small  use.  Incapable  workmen  are  produced,  and  as 
t.^me  goes  on  these  workmen  often  become  burdens  on  the  state 
because,  as  has  been  stated,  a  new  invention  comes  along  and 
throws  them  out  of  work.  An  apprenticeship  system,  for  in- 
stance, which  would  teach  merely  how  to  sew  shoes  would  not 
be  real ,  apprenticeship. 

This  kind  of  apprenticeship  is  discouraged  by  the  leaders  of 
industrial  education  in  America  today.  There  is  no  need  to 
waste  time  on  it ;  it  will  kill  itself.  However,  the  apprenticeship 
which  will  teach  a  man  some  of  the  fundamentals  in  the  trade, 
as  outlined  in  the  plan  proposed  by  your  commission,  can 
doubtless  be  worked  out.  The  plan  in  Milwaukee  at  the  pres- 
ent time  by  which  class  rooms  are  fitted  up  for  workmen  in  the 
factories,  and  the  instruction  is  being  given  by  the  university 
extension  division  in  the  factory  at  the  expense  and  time  of 
the  employers,  is  an  example  of  what  can  be  done.  This  Work 
should  be  made  still  broader  in  the  future. 

It  is  well  known  that  many  of  the  big  manufacturing  enter- 
prises and  railroads  in  our  country  have  strong  special  in- 
structional departments  in  their  plants.  Most  of  these  combine 
some  general  education  of  a  specialized  type  with  the  actual 
manual  education,  and  some  of  these  will  form  a  good  guide  for 
us  in  the  study  of  this  question.  Many  systems  of  this  sort, 
although  temporarily  effective,  are  too  narrow  for  our  stan- 
dards. 

Says  the  late  Carroll  D.  Wright  in  a  paper  before  the  Nat- 


78        EEPOUT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

ional  society  for  the  promotion  of  industrial  education :  l '  Some 
time  ago  at  a  hearing  on  the  subject  of  industrial  education,  I 
asked  the  manager  of  a  great  works  engaged  in  the  production 
of  machinery  if  his  apprentices  knew  anything  whatever  of 
the  physics  of  their  work,  whether  they  could  make  a  calculation 
relative  to  the  power  applied  by  the  different  diameters  of 
driving  wheels  or  of  the  different  sizes  of  cog  wheels,  and  he 
answered  me  very  promptly  that  they  knew  nothing  whatever 
of  such  methods.  The  apprentice  system,  pure  and  simple, 
would  not  teach  them.  But  the  industrial  school  properly 
equipped  would  have  taught  the  men  all  such  things.  The 
thoroughly  skilled  mechanic  ought  to  understand  not  only  the 
physics  of  his  work,  the  science  and  the  mathematics,  but 
something  of  the  art  itself.  It  would  then  be  possible  in  one  of 
our  great  modern  manufacturing  establishments  to  secure  for 
this  apprenticeship  system  from  the  industrial  school,  the  very 
best  possible  equipment  that  could  lead  to  the  highest  efficiency. 
This  is  the  need  of  the  day 'in  the  work  that  is  progressing/' 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  extension  division  of  the  uni- 
versity can  add  a  broadening  element  of  this  kind  for  the  small 
manufacturer  or  for  the  single  manufacturer  in  a  small 
town.  The  continuation  school  can  do  it 'wherever  it  is  estab- 
lished, and  the  evening  school  can  be  of  service  in  doing  it. 
Part  time  arrangements  can  be  made  with  trade  schools  which 
can  fill  in  this  gap.  But  whatever  form  of  apprentice  system  is 
adopted,  it  will  not  succeed  unless  the  apprentice  contract  con- 
tains an  assurance  of  this  broad  training.  It  will  not  succeed, 
for  men  will  not  go  into  it,  since  it  offers  no  particular  oppor- 
tunity in  the  future,  and  it  is  not  the  right  kind  of  an  education. 

Part  time  arrangements. — This  brings  us  to  the  consideration 
of  the  whole  question  of  "part  time"  in  apprenticeship.  "Part 
time"  schemes  have  the  elements  of  great  success  in  them,  be- 
cause they  are  as  a  general  thing  by  nature  "short  courses." 
The  value  of  the  "short  courses"  has  already  been  discussed. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that  if  the  apprentice  works  in  the  factory  and 
at  the  same  time  takes  some  kind  of  a  "short  course"  work  or 
"part  time"  work  in  an  educational  institution,  he  is  probably 
getting,  if  not  the  broadest  industrial  education,  the  most  effi- 
cient education  of  which  we  know,  for  it  is  related  to  his  needs, 
more  than  any  other.  However,  "part  time"  arrangements 
iiave  limitations  also;  they  are  often  too  narrow. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      73 

Apprenticeship  continuation  schools  and  "part  time"  schools 
really  differ  very  little  in  the  main  concept;  they  are  all  means 
of  giving  more  training  to  students  between  14  and  20  'years  of 
age.  The  agricultural  "short  course"  is  a  "part  time"  and 
obviously  also  a  continuation  school.  In  the  University  of- 
Wisconsin,  although  the  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  practical 
dairying,  butter-making,  stock  judging,  etc.  in  the  "short 
courses,"  yet  the  broader  aspects  of  education  have  not  been 
altogether  neglected.  As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  continua- 
tion school  in  Germany  allows  the  boy  who  is  actually  in  trade 
to  give  a  part  of  his  time  to  school  work  each  week.  In  that 
sense,  it  is  a  "part  time"  school.  All  kinds  of  "part  time" 
arrangements  have  been  tried.  In  England  the  "sandwich 
system"  provides  for  long  periods,  6  months  in  a  factory  fol- 
lowed by  6  months  in  a  school.  In  all  cases  which  have  been 
successful,  however,  the  instruction  is  made  to  fit  into  the  actual 
work.  The  boy  gets  instruction  especially  adapted  to  fit 
him  for  his  work  in  the  factory,  and  ability  to  answer  the 
questions  which  he  must  meet  every  day. 

jFitchlvurg  system. — Many  make-shifts  are  now  existing  in 
America  which,  although  they  do  excellent  work,  do  not  accom- 
plish the  same  results  as  a  "part  time"  school.  The  "Fitch- 
burg  system ' '  by  which  a  boy  working  in  a  shop  takes  one  week 
in  the  shop  and  the  next  week  in  the  high  school,  while  his  mate 
takes  his  place,  is  open  to  certain  objections.  In  its  application 
to  high  schools  in  America  it  should  be  carefully  studied  before 
being  adopted.  Unless  the  high  school  methods  conform  to  those 
which  we  have  discussed  in  the  evening  school,  trade  school  and. 
continuation  school,  it  cannot  successfully  do  its  part  of  the  work. 
Unless  specialized  teachers  and  specialized  courses  can  be  given 
in  the  high  school,  the  system  does  not  really  meet  the  demands 
and  the  result,  although  it  may  be  good,  will  certainly  not  be 
that  broad  understanding  of  industrial  conditions  so  essential 
to  the  improvement  of  our  modern  conditions.  Unless  we  have 
special  instruction  and  guidance  in  the  factories  and  special 
methods  in  the  school,  the  results  will  be  much  the  same  as  the 
old  apprentice  system.  The  students  in  this  work  have  not  been 
separated  from  the  others  while  being  taught  in  the  high 
school,  and  adequate  provision  has  not  yet  been  made  for  cor- 
related shop  instruction ;  in  fact,  a  complete  apprentice  system 
cannot  be  said  to  exist.  There  is  also  no  general  supervisory 


80        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR 

body.  Employes  or  organized  bodies  of  them  have  nothing  to 
say  about  what  shall  be  tanight,  or  how  it  shall  be  taught,  in 
high  school  or  factory.  Evidently  this  plan  is  in  course  of  evolu- 
tion. As^suggested  before,  the  American  Federation  of  labor 
does  not  advocate  this  kind  of  an  arrangement.  In  the  first 
place,  the  boy  has  to  find  his  place  in  the  factory  before  he  can 
go  to  school.  In  doing  so,  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
believes  that  the  whole  thing  may  be  open  to  favoritism. 

Cincinnati  system. — The  Cincinnati  "part  time"  system 
whereby  young  men  who  are  being  taught  in  the  engineering 
school  are  sent  out  into  the  shops  and  factories  for  a  certain 
time,  and  the  continuation  school,  where  boys  are  instructed  in 
an  arrangement  almost  identical  with  the  German  continuation 
school,  ought  to  be  distinguished  from  the  Fitchburg  system. 
The  latter  will  be  in  the  end  just  as  costly  as  if  trade  schools 
were  established.  (  Unless  there  are  teachers  and  special  depart- 
ments, it  will  not  be  a  success.  To  get  the  teachers  in  the  spe- 
cial departments,  the  outlay  must  be  made.  The  Cincinnati 
scheme  has  its  special  departments,  and  so  there  can  be  correla- 
tion and  co-operation  between  the  school  and  the  factory.  There 
is  no  alternative.  Unless  we  use  the  right  methods  and  get  the 
right  kind  of  an  instructional  force  we  cannot  obtain  the  best 
results,  and  all  this  costs  money. 

If  a  boy  goes  into  an  ordinary  factory  today,  and  there  is  no 
instructor  there  to  take  charge  of  him,  he  will  be  put  at  some 
one  task  and  perhaps  kept  at  that  one  indefinitely,  and  there  will 
be  no  order  or  arrangement  by  which  he  is  promoted  from  task 
to  task  or  by  which  he  can  get  a  broad  grasp  of  the  subject. 
Co-operation  between  the  school  and  factory  is  essential. 

There  is  another  kind  of  "part  time"  arrangement  for  cer- 
tain of  the  building  trades  in  Chicago  which  seems  to  be  of  great 
service.  Some  of  these  trades  have  a  "slack"  time  just  as  in 
farming,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  an  apprentice  system  can 
be  devised  so  that  during  this  time  the  boys  can  be  sent  to  school 
and  paid  while  they  are  in  school,  and  thus  be  given  instruction 
which  is  practically  the  same  as  the  ' '  short  course ' '  agricultural 
school  work.  "Whichever  way  is  adopted,  unless  there  is  an  in- 
structional force  in  the  factory  our  apprentice  system  will  not 
meet  with  the  highest  success. 

Your  commission  believes  that  an  apprentice  law  providing 
for  correlation  between  the  continuation  school  and  the  usual 
apprentice  work  should  be  put  upon  the  statute  books  of  the 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      81 

state  of  Wisconsin.  This  law  should  provide  that  at  least  12 
hours  a  week  of  correlated,  broadening  education  should  be 
given  until  at  least  18  years  of  age  or  until  the  apprentice  has 
completed  at  least  2  years  of  apprenticeship.  The  "Wisconsin 
apprentice  law  was  drafted  in  1849  and  is  useless  paper  today. 

University  extension  in  relation  to  apprenticeship. — We  have 
in  this  state  today,  factory  villages.  These  factories  are  not 
large  enough  to  employ  instructors,  but  by  fitting  up  rooms 
in  them  for  the  university  extension  workers  in  the  man- 
ner now  provided  in  Milwaukee,  together  with  the  estab- 
lishment of  co-operative  classes  in  the  high  school,  similar  to 
those  in  Beverly,  Mass.,  a  good  beginning  could  be  made.  If  the 
high  school  will  co-operate  intelligently  in  the  plan,  and  establish 
classes  which  will  fit  into  the  work  done  by  the  extensior 
division  in  the  factory,  which  will  be  closely  related  to  the  special 
industries  of  the  locality,  it  is  very  probable  that  a  make-shift 
of  some  value  can  be  devised.  However,  before  such  a  make-shift 
is  adopted,  it  should  receive  the  approval  of  the  industrial  de- 
partment which  is  recommended  by  your  commission.  These 
matters  should  be  very  carefully  studied,  because  they  may  easily 
cost  a  great  deal  without  giving  commensurate  return,  and  be- 
cause of  the  opposition  which  may  come  from  trade  unions  unless 
they  conform  to  the  idea  of  free  public  trade  education  which 
the  trade  unions  are  so  persistently  advocating. 

The  modified  Fitchburg-Beverly  scheme  should  be  closely 
studied.  There  is  no  essential  difference  between  this  system  ot 
apprenticeship  and  the  compulsory  apprentice  continuation 
school  of  Germany,  if  compulsion  is  introduced  between  14  and 
16  and  the  apprentice  law  be  changed  as  suggested  in  this  re- 
port. If  employers  must  send  all  boys  between  14  and  16  to 
school  for  a  short  time  each  week  and  if  they  are  also  compelled 
to  fix  their  apprentice  system  so  that  a  good  deal  of  special 
correlated  instruction  every  week  be  given,  as  suggested,  until 
18  years  of  age,  then  the  chief  argument  against  the  Fitchburg 
system  is  removed  and  the  high  school  can  be  effective  to  the  ex- 
tent to  which  it  adopts  methods  and  teachers  which  will  bring 
about  good  results. 

It  is  unwise  to  think  of  establishing  a  minutely  perfected  state 
system  at  once.  It  must  be  a  matter  of  first  steps  of  growth,  of 
evolution.  First  steps  are  all  right  if  they  are  economical  and 
we  know  at  what  we  are  aiming.  Best  results  will  be  ob- 
tained in  the  end,  when  all  such  schools  are  as  far  as 
6 


82        REPORT  or  O>HE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

possible  public  schools.  When  they  are  public  schools, 
they  will  have  the  direction  from  school  men  as  well  as 
from  employers  and  employees;  and  a  compromise  between  the 
school  men  and  the  employers  and  employees  will  be  the  right 
one  in  the  end  for  all  concerned.  In  some  trades  the  compromise 
has  already  been  made  between  employers  and  the  employees, 
and  the  apprentice  system  is  regulated  by  both.  This  is  partic- 
ularly true  in  some  of  the  building  trades.  But  there  Is  always 
a  third  element, — the  public,  and  this  element  should  be  consid- 
ered, in  order  to' have  the  proper  balance.  It  will  be  seen  at  once 
that  there  are  very  delicate  questions  involved  in  any  system  of 
apprentice  work.  The  conditions  of  labor,  the  strife  between 
labor  and  capital,  make  this  question  one  of  greatest  difficulty, 
when  any  plan  is  submitted  which  calls  for  co-operation  between 
a  private  apprentice  system  and  a  tax  supported  public  school. 
For  instance,  what  will  become  of  the  apprentice  in  case  there 
is  a  strike  in  the  factory  ?  The  employees  naturally  want  to  have 
such  relations  closely  defined  and  are  very  doubtful  about  the 
ultimate  success  of  any  kind  of  an  apprentice  system  which  does 
not  have  a  public  school  basis. 

Beverly  plan. — In  the  Beverly  school  scheme  the  factory  has 
a  workshop  fitted  up  for  25  boys.  One  week  25  boys  work  and 
the  rest  go  to  the  high  school,  and  then  another  division  takes  its 
place.  The  company  hires  competent  instructors  in  the  factory 
and  the  city  binds  itself  to  provide  instruction  in  shop  methods, 
English,  mathematics,  drawing,  chemistry  and  other  studies. 
These  studies  are  so  arranged  that  they  dovetail  into1  the  actual 
work  of  the  factory.  The  company  takes  in  boys  from  14  to  18 
who  have  passed  the  6th  grade.  The  remarkable  point  and  the 
safe  point,  both  from  the  standpoint  of  capital  and  labor  and 
also  from  the  standpoint  of  true  industrial  education,  is  that  the 
arrangement  is  controlled  entirely  by  a  committee  composed  of  5 
members  of  the  school  board,  and  one  or  more  citizens  of  Beverly 
appointed  by  the  mayor.  Every  factory  .has  a  representative  ap- 
pointed by  the  mayor  upon  nomination  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
factory.  As  an  additional  safeguard,  the  whole  is  under  the 
control  of  the  Massachusetts  commission  on  education  and  state 
aid  is  given  the  city  of  Beverly  to  carry  on  the  work.  This 
seems  a  good  combination,  but  unless  the  factory  is  as  large  as 
the  United  shoe  machine  company  at  Beverly,  the  shop  instruc- 
tion will  not  be  adequate.  It  is  not  often  that  firms  are  found 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      83 

who  will  see  matters  in  as  broad  a  way  as  the  United  shoe  ma- 
chine company  of  Beverly.  There  are,  few  places  indeed  in  "Wis- 
consin where  such  co-operation  could  be  carried  out.  If  success- 
fully carried  out,  it  would  provide  a  means  for  making  the  high 
school  a  real  factor  in  the  life  of  every  community. 

Boston  continuation  schools. — In  Boston  the  merchants  and 
business  men  have  realized  the  necessity  of  part  time  appren- 
tice or  continuation  classes.  Through  the  splendid  work  of 
Prof.  Paul  Hanus,  Mr.  A.  L.  Filene  and  others,  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  value  of  these  arrangements  has  come  about. 
There  is  the  most  enthusiastic  co-operation  between  the  dif- 
ferent elements.  The  school  committee  of  Boston  announced 
recently  that  it  would  give  class  room  and  equipment  if 
the  business  men  would  co-operate.  The  result  is  that  con- 
tinuation classes  have  been  started  in  the  leather  industries, 
wholesale  dry  goods  and  salesmanship.  Some  of  the  large 
stores,  like  the  Filene  store,  have  part  time  arrangements  or 
continuation  schools  of  some  kind,  right  in  the  store.  In  this 
continuation  school  program,  two  afternoons  are  given  every  week 
for  these  classes,  which  meet  in  special  rooms  in  the  center 
of  the  city.  The  merchants  allow  their  employees  to  go  to 
the  school  without  loss  of  pay.  The  whole  problem  in  indus- 
trial education  would  soon  be  solved  if  we  had  such  business 
men  everywhere.  If  the  manufacturers  of  the  state  of  Wis- 
consin, so  justly  noted  for  their  enthusiasm  for  industrial  edu- 
cation, would  join  in  this  helpful  manner  and  if  the  trade 
unions  would  give  that  hearty  support  to  arrangements  of 
this  kind  which  is  given  by  their  brethren  in  Germany  and 
England,  we  could  solve  the  question  of  part  time  and  appren- 
tice systems  very  quickly. 

Chicago  building  trades  agreement. — The  following  descrip- 
tions of  the  system  now  used  in  Chicago  in  the  building  trades  is 
given  from  a  paper  by  Luke  Grant  in  bulletin  No.  6  of  the  Na- 
tional Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education:  "To 
show  that  the  wage- earners  are  in  favor  of  industrial  and  tech- 
nical education  for  the  youths  entering  skilled  trades,  I  wish  to 
give  an  illustration  in  this  city.  Through  a  mutual  agreement 
between  the  building  contractors  and  the  organized  carpenters 
and  bricklayers,  the  apprentices  in  those  trades  are  required  to 
attend  school  for  three  months  each  winter  during  their  appren- 
ticeship period.  An  allowance  in  the  length  of  the  apprentice- 
ship period  is  made  if  the  boy  has  received  a  certain  amount  of 


&4       REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

technical  education  before  he  goes  into  the  trade.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  something  like  400  apprentice  carpenters  attending 
school  in  Chicago.  There  are  about  an  equal  number  of  brick- 
layer apprentices. -While  the  credit  for  inaugurating  this  system 
of  education  for  the  apprentices  is  due  in  a  large  measure  to  one 
prominent  contractor,  the  workingmen  readily  took  up  the  idea 
and  have  worked  hand  in  hand  with  the  employers  to  make  it 
a  success.  In  fact  the  workingmen  are  now  more  enthusiastic 
over  the  plan  than  are  the  contractors. 

Although  the  system  was  inaugurated  only  6  or  7  years  ago 
and  is  not  even  now  as  perfect  as  might  be  desired,  its  effects  are 
discernible  in  the  quality  of  the  young  men  that  are  being  turned 
out  to  earn  their  living  as  skilled  workmen.  I  am  informed  that 
in  a  few  instances  in  the  carpenter  trade,  boys  have  been  selected 
from  the  ranks  and  given  responsible  positions. 

During  the  months  the  apprentice  youths  attend  school  they 
are  paid  a  regular  rate  of  wages  agreed  upon  according  to  the 
length  of  their  term  of  apprenticeship.  They  are  not  under  the 
control  either  of  the  carpenters'  union  or  of  the  employers'  as- 
sociation, but  are  under  the  control  of  a  joint  board  composed 
equally  of  contractors  and  journeymen. 

If  for  special  reasons,  such  as  the  support  of  a  mother  or  of 
younger  members  of  a  family,  an  apprentice  desires  to  remain  at 
work  instead  of  attending  school,  his  particular  case  is  investi- 
gated and  if  the  permission  is  granted,  he  is  required  to  attend 
a  night  school  in  lieu  of  the  day  attendance.  I  should,  perhaps, 
explain  that  most  of  the  apprentices  are  paid  a  higher  rate  of 
wages  than  the  stipulated  scale  while  they  are  at  work,  and  are 
paid  only  the  stipulated  scale  while  they  are  attending  school. 
This  naturally  creates  a  desire  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  boys  to 
shirk  school  if  possible,  but  on  the  whole  the  rules  are  well  car- 
ried out." 

Here  is  a  condition  which  seems  to  be  almost  ideal.  But  it 
shows  us  also  how  different  some  trades  are  from  others.  It  shows 
us  the  necessity  of  investigating  different  trades  with  a  view  to 
finding  out  how  this  "part  time"  work  can  be  worked  out.  This 
arrangement  is  very  much  like  the  "short  course"  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  "Wisconsin  and  such- an  arrangement  could  be  entered 
into  with  a  trade  school  in  a  big  cit}T  or  with  a  university  ex- 
tension division  in  a  small  city. 

In  the  older  countries,  the  labor  unions  insist  upon  the  most 
rigid  observance  of  educational  standards  by  apprentices.  If 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      85 

the  manufacturers  and  laborers  combine  and  maintain  the  stand- 
ards as  before  suggested  in  this  report,  doubtless  the  proper  plan 
can  be  worked  out,'  but  your  commission  still  insists  that  the 
public  has  an  interest  in  the  matter  and  that  it  should  have 
a  share  in  all  these  arrangements. 

Your  commission  has  drafted  and  is  submitting  to  you  a  bill 
for  a  revision  of  the  apprentice  laws  of  the  state  along  the  lines 
herein  advocated. 


ADMINISTRATIVE   CONTROL 

Your  commission  recommends  that  state  aid  for  industrial 
education  be  distributed  by  some  departmtnt  created  by  the 
state  for  the  encouragement  and  supervision  of  industrial  edu- 
cation, preferably  a  division  of  the  state  superintendent's 
department.  The  law  should  provide  for  a  secretary  who  should 
have  charge  of  the  organization  and  inspection  of  these  schools. 
It  should  also  provide  for  a  temporary  commission  lasting  6 
years  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor  from  the  employers  and 
employees  of  this  state.  The  director  of  the  extension  division 
of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  should  be  an  ex-officio  member 
of  this  commission.  It  should  work  in  co-operation  with  the  in- 
dustrial education  secretary  of  the  state  superintendent  office. 
This  secretary  shouid  be  appointed  by  the  state  superintendent 
subject  to  the  approval  of  this  commission, and  the  funds  for  the 
state  aid  for  the  different  schools  of  this  state  should  also  be  ap- 
portioned with  its  approval.  It  should  be  a  very  important  part 
of  the  work  of  this  commission  to  aid  in  the  organization  of  in- 
dustrial trade  schools  or  industrial  education  centers  through- 
out this  state,  in  very  much  the  same  way  that  the  state  free  li- 
brary commission  does  at  the  present  time  in  the  organization  of 
libraries. 

State  aid  should  be  given  only  in  proportion  to  the  effort  made 
by  the  community.  Your  commission  has  drafted  a  bill  which  is 
to  be  presented  to  you,  along  the  lines  here  advocated.  It  will  be 
observed  that  in  our  recommendation  for  a  separate  administra- 
tion we  are  -only  acting  on  the  experience  of  Germany.  In  the 
first  place,  in  that  country  nearly  all  these  schools  were  under 
the  general  educational  department.  Prussia  began  by  giving 


86        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

the  control  to  the  bureau  of  commerce  and  industry;  it  finally 
was  transferred  to  the  bureau  which  controls  matters  relating  to 
general  educational  affairs ;  it  was  found  that  this  made  the  work 
altogther  too  scholastic  and  theoretical,  and  this  arrangement 
lasted  for  only  6  years,  when  industrial  schools  were  again  placed 
under  the  control  of  the  commerce  and  industry  department. 
For  a  while  there  was  a  tendency  directly  away  from  educational 
supervisory  bodies,  but  recently  these  educational  bodies  have 
been  given  supervisory  power,  mainly  in  an  advisory  capacity. 

There  seems  to  be  no  division  of  opinion  among  experts  as 
to  the  necessity  of  placing  the  supervision  in  the  hands  (to  some 
degree  at  least)  of  employers  and  employees.  Albert  A. 
Snowden,  in  a  pamphlet  upon  industrial  schools  in  "Wurttem- 
burg,  says  that  "Wurttemburg  has  in  common  with  other  Euro- 
pean nations  been  driven  to  establish  an  agency  essentially 
separate  from  the  ordinary  educational  administration,  for  the 
direction  of  the  industrial  schools.  History  clearly  impeaches 
the  ordinary  educational  administration  for  the  failure  to  fur- 
nish adequate  instruction  in  the  industries.  It  is  European 
experience,  that  they  even  fail  in  many  cases  to  do  all  that 
lies  wihin  their  power  in  this  regard  until  forced  to  adopt  a 
practical  attitude  by  the  fact  that  the  major  responsibility 
for  providing  such  instruction  has  been  placed  upon  another 
ministry  (industrial  or  commercial)  or  body  closely  in  touch 
with  the  industries  and  the  commercial  needs  of  the  country. 

Professor  Ernst  C.  Meyer,  formerly  of  the  University  of  Wis- 
consin, who  wrote  the  valuable  pamphlet  upon  industrial  educa- 
tion printed  as  a  United  States  special  consular  report,  volume 
33,  has  the  following  to  say  about  the  administrative  methods  in 
Germany:  "The  experience  of  Germany  in  the  administration 
of  her  industrial  schools  goes  to  show  that  the  subordination  ot 
the  system  of  industrial  education  to  the  same  administrative 
body  which  controls  the  system  of  general  education,  is  unwise. 
It  also  goes  to  show,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  total  withdrawal 
of  the  industrial  schools  from  the  influence  of  the  administrators 
of  the  'schools  for  general  education,  is  likewise  detrimental  to 
their  most  efficient  development.  As  will  be  at  once  recognized, 
this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  industrial  schools  have  two  sides  to 
their  constitution — an  educational  and  an  industrial  side. 
Proper  educational  methods  must  be  employed  and  the  educa- 
tional needs  of  industry  must 'be  wisely  judged.  One  requires 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      87 

knowledge  of  educational  methods,  the  other  of  industrial  aims 
and  requirements.  A  wise  administration  has  hence  been  found 
to  involve  the  participation  and  co-operation  of  two  administra- 
tive departments — that  which  has  charge  of  educational  affairs 
and  that  which  has  charge  of  industrial  affairs.  As  was  seen, 
such  co-operation,  though  expressed  in  various  forms,  is  prac- 
tically universal  in  Germany,  that  department  in  which  is  vested 
the  administration  of  commercial  and  industrial  affairs  almost 
invariably  exercising  a  predominant  control,  while  the  educa- 
tional interests  of  the  industrial  schools  are  generally  safe- 
guarded by  advisors,  councils,  commissions,  and  other  bodies 
well  informed  on  modern  educational  method." 

In  the  light  of  the  fact  that  despite  the  great  vigilance  ex- 
ercised by  the  manufacturers  over  the  schools  in  Germany,  they 
are  still  perhaps  too  theoretical — that  too  much  impractical  work 
is  taught,  that  the  student  wastes  much  material,  is  too  slow  or 
makes  designs  which  will  not  sell;  in  the  light  of  all  this,  it, 
seems  to  us  that  we  should  not  be  afraid  at  this  time  to  emphasize 
the  practical  side.  We  should  fairly  meet  the  situation  and 
through  our  local  administrative  bodies  and  through  our  central 
administrative  bodies  lean  towards  the  practical  side  rather  than 
the  theoretical  side  of  the  work.  The  results  will  be  probably  a 
compromise  which  will  include  the  best  part  of  the  scholastic 
work  as  well  as  the  best  part  of  the  practical  work., 


AID  FROM  CAPITAL  AND  LABOR 

Again  there  are  other  reasons  why  employers  should  be 
directly  interested  and  have  a  medium  for  expressing  that  in- 
terest. If  the  employers  give  their  personal  attention  to  this 
work,  contribute  towards  it,  look  upon  it  as  the  chief  aid  to 
their  business  in  the  state,  there  will  be  no  doubt  about  its 
success.  "We  not  only  have  to  educate  our  workmen,  but  we 
have  to  educate  our  manufacturers  and  merchants  to  under- 
stand that  every  investment  they  make  in  time  or  in  money  in 
work  of  this  sort/  comes  bac.k  a  hundred  fold  to  them. 

Your  commission  realizes  that  if  the  manufacturers  of  this 
state  organize  and  contribute  with  the  same  enthusiasm  to  the 
state  wide  scheme  that  they  did  to  the  Milwaukee  school  of 
trades,  the  whole  matter  will  go  forward  and  become  successful. 


88        EEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

If  the  work  becomes  theoretical,  the  manufacturer  is  to  blame. 
He  must  be  the  one  who,  through  his  organizations,  must  in- 
sist that  the  emphasis  be  placed  upon  practical  results,  in- 
sist upon  thoroughness,  and  by  a  broad  and  liberal  policy,  strive 
to  build  up  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  the  average  man.  It  is 
for  this  reason,  that  your  commission  believes  that  manufac- 
turers, employers  and  merchants  should  have  a  place  upon 
this  state  advisory  commission.  It  is  the  manufacturer's  own 
fault  after  he  is  represented  on  this  commission  if  he  fails 
to  get  results.  If  he  does  not  take  interest  in  the  local  com- 
mittee, if  he  does  not  aim  to  make  each  local  trade  educational 
center  something  which  will  be  a  benefit  to  his  industry,  then 
it  is  his  own  fault  if  the  work  is  not  practical. 

Supplementing  the  regular  legal  representation,  manufactur- 
ers should  have  special  organizations  to  urge  upon  their  mem- 
bers continued  action  for  the  benefit  of  the  schools.  The  trades 
unions  also  should  imitate  the  splendid  work  now  being  done 
by  the  American  federation  of  labor  in  encouraging  the  or- 
ganization of  trade  schools.  Organized  labor  in  England 
is  now  contributing  a  very  large  fund  to  industrial  edu- 
cation through  a  strong  organization  for  that  purpose.  If  every 
trade  union  man  in  this  state  should  contribute  a  little  mite 
each  year  to  this  great  object,  it  would  mean  a  wonderful  re- 
turn to  everyone  in  prosperity  and  in  the  broadening  out  of 
the  status  of  his  children.  For  this  reason  the  employees  should 
be  given  a  representative  upon  the  local  boards  and  the  central 
boards.  They  should  see  to  it  that  the  proper  kind  of  educa- 
tion is  given,  and  that  their  interests  are  guarded.  The  in- 
terest of  the  manufacturer  and  the  employee  is,  after  all,  the 
interest  of  the  public. 

In  Germany  the  trades  unions  work  with  enthusiasm  for  in- 
dustrial education.  Both  in  Germany  and  in  France  they 
recommend  teachers,  attend  classes,  and  criticise  the  instruc- 
tion. It  is  generally  expected  that  labor  unions  will  support 
these  schools  in  every  way  and  contribute  financially.  In  Ger- 
many one  finds  the  labor  unions,  master  workmen  and  manu- 
facturers vieing  with  one  another  in  their  pride  in  the  local 
schools  and  contributing  not  only  money  but  sometimes  tools, 
machinery  and  designs.  This  cooperation  we  must  have  in 
America,  before  there  will  be  any  real  success  in  the  work  of  in- 
dustrial education. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      89 

Manufacturers  especially  can  cooperate  not  only  in  advice  to 
local  committees  and  in  the  establishment  of  schools,  but  also 
by  a  hearty  response  to  the  request  for  shorter  hours  for  the 
boys  and  girls  so  that  they  can  attend  the  continuation  schools 
or  evening  schools,  in  the  payment  of  tuition,  in  the  donation 
of  prizes  and  scholarships,  and  in  many  other  material  ways. 
Professor  Reber  in  his  analysis  of  the  facts  given  in  Sadler's 
book  on  ' '  Continuation  schools  in  England, ' '  says  that  he  found 
that  the  38  firms  out  of  97  examined,  "pay  a  part  or  all  of  the 
fees  charged  the  apprentices  "by  the  schools.  In  some  cases  the 
wages  are  increased  according  to  combined  reports  of  the 
teacher  of  the  school  and  the  superintendent  of  the  shop.  In 
some  firms  the  privilege  is  not  limited  to  apprentices,  but  ap- 
plies to  employees  generally." 

In  the  investigation  made  by  the  Massachusetts  committee  on 
industrial  education  it  was  found  that  the  industrial  schools 
in  Ireland  "which  have  been  started  with  a  consideration 
for  local  conditions  and  local  demands  and  in  which  the 
instruction  has  been  strong  and  of  the  right  kind,  have  flour- 
ished, while  those  they  started  and  managed  under  the  opposite 
conditions  have  languished  and  died  out  or  have,  been  but 
weaklings  if  they  have  survived."  It  is  the  duty  of  the  em- 
ployers and  employees  to  see  that  these  schools  are  so  formed 
and  managed  that  the  lesson  of  Ireland  will  not  be  lost  to  us. 

The  carefully  worked  out  system  of  state  aid  in  Germany  is 
supplemented  'to  a  large  extent  by  gifts  from  local  communities 
and  local  societies.  Thus  according  to  Mr.  Arthur  J.  Jones  in 
his  pamphlet,  Continuation  schools  in  the  United  States:  "The 
sources  of  support  for  the  industrial  schools  in  Berlin  in  1896 
and  1897  were— 

State    86,089  marks 

City 329,363  marks 

Guilds  *.       9,115  marks 

Societies 12,520  marks 

This  shows  also  that  state  aid  although  a  large  factor,  is 
supplemented  by  the  enthusiastic  work  of  all  the  different 
elements  concerned  in  industrial  education  in  Germany.  It  is 
this  hearty  co-operation  which  will  make  a  success  of  industrial 
education. 


90        REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 


OTHER    ADMINISTRATIVE    METHODS    AND    DEVICES 

There  are  certain  methods  and  certain  details  of  administra- 
tion which  must/  be  considered,  in  order  that  mistakes  will  not 
be  made  in  the  organization  of  industrial  education.  As  your 
commission  has  said  repeatedly  in  this  report,  it  is  necessary 
w.hen  we  do  start,  to  start  right.  The  problems  which  your  com- 
mission is  now  taking  up  under  this  caption  have  not  been  en- 
tirely solved  by  its  members,  but  as  a  result  of  this  investiga- 
tion they  would  warn  those  who  are  organizing  industrial  edu- 
cation of  their  existence, 

Shall  the  students  in  this  work  pay  tuition  ?  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
men  who  have  had  experience  with  evening  schools  in  America 
will  tell  you  that  evening  schools  conducted  by  the  association 
are  well  patronized  because  when  a  man  pays  a  small  fee 
he  will  want  to  get  the  worth  of  his  money.  One  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
man  in  Boston  told  one  of  the  members  of  your  commission 
that  the  whole  success  of  the  system  depended  upon  this 
small  fee.  In  Germany  as  a  general  thing  tuition  fees  are  re- 
quired in  all  these  schools  and  especially  in  the  evening  and  trade 
schools.  The  plan  is  well  thought  of.  It  is  held  that  it  gives 
an  incentive  to  the  student  who  feels  that  he  has  some  invest- 
ment in  the  school  and  that  he  loses  money  unless  he  attends. 
It  is  also  felt  that  his  tuition  is  an  aid  to  the  better  equipment 
of  the  schools  in  the  different  localities,  and  that  it  is  just  to 
charge  students  tuition  because  of  the  fact  that  the  classes  are 
so  small,  heavy  equipment  is  required,  and  that  close  personal 
attention  of  the  teacher  is  demanded  to  a  greater  degree  than 
m  public  schools  or  lecture  work.  In  some  cases  a  tuition  fee  is 
not  only  paid  by  pupils,  but  also  by  the  employers. 

It  is  obvious  that  in  starting  a  trade  school  or  any  system  of 
industrial  education,  the  question  of  tuition  should  be  a  matter 
of  serious  consideration.  In  America  we  have  believed  that 
such  instruction  should  not  cost  the  man  who  is  working  any 
juore  than  it  costs  the  man  who  is  not  working  but  giving  all 
of  his  time  to  study.  Yet  there  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion 
among  experienced  students  on  the  question.  John  L.  Shearer, 
president  of  the  Ohio  Mechanics  Institute,  says:  "A  free 
evening  school  is  not  a  success  as  a  rule.  Those  who  receive 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      91 

valuable  instruction  in  subjects  that  mean  better  financial  re- 
turns -and  greater  efficiency,  do  not  wish  to  be  considered  ob- 
jects of  charity.  The  price  must  be  within  their  reach  and  in 
no  case  will  the  income  from  tuition  meet  expenses.  But  this 
taition  should  pay  a  portion  of  the  expenses,  and  thus  lead  the 
man  who  invests  something  in  himself  to  appreciate  what  he  is 
getting.  One  who  is  unwilling  to  make  some  sacrifice  for  his 
own  good  is  not  worth  much.  I  recall  many  cases  where  ap- 
parently worthy  students  were  given  all  conceivable  help  but 
were  failures  in  the  end.  On  the  other  hand,  many  who  have 
made  sacrifices  for  their  trade  developed  at  the  same  time 
noble  characters  and  became  useful  citizens  and  important 
factors  in  the  industries  with  which  they  became  connected. 
These  lessons  of  sacrifice  were  the  making  of  them.  Their 
struggles  developed  character  and  backbone,  as  many  a  suc- 
cessful man  could  testify. " 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  charges  as  high  as  $45  for  a  six  months' 
course.  Many  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  workers  have  now  admitted 
that  this  is  too  high  and  a  mistake.  Mr.  Jones,  in  his  pamphlet 
upon  continuation  schools  in  the  United  States,  says,  in  relation 
to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. :  "It  must  be  frankly  admitted  that  as  long 
as  the  membership  in  the  educational  classes  conducted  by 
the  association  is  limited  to  membership  of  the  organization, 
and  as  long  as  it  is  necessary  to,  hold  a  $5  annual  ticket  besides 
paying  for  a  class  ticket,  ranging  anywhere  from  $-2.50  to  $5.00, 
cr  even  $10.00  extra,  not  counting  the  cost  of  class  books, 
which  must  be  purchased  by  the  men  individually,  it  cannot  be 
said  that  educational  work  in  this  .institution  is  seeking  the 
masses  of  the  poor,  for  they  cannot  afford  to  pay  so  much  for  it. 
The  association  undoubtedly  appeals  to  a  class  of  more  or  less 
successful  young  men  who  wish  to  improve  their  conditions 
along  specified  lines,  so  it  is  natural  that  the  men  who  make  a 
financial  outlay  at  the  beginning  of  the  term  are  not  likely  to 
drop  out  when  the  work  begins  to  stiffen." 

In  England  every  effort  has  been  made,  according  to  Mr.  Jones, 
to  get  those  in  charge  of  such  work  to  charge  fees  for  students  at- 
tending evening  classes,  and  a  report  upon  this  plan  in  England 
in  1905  says :  c '  The  experience  of  these  years,  1902  to  1905,  has 
tended  to  confirm  them  in  the  view,  that  a  charge  of  this  kind 
is  in  the  best  interests  of  education.  They  realize,  however,  that 
in  a  few  of  the  rural  districts  and  in  the  poorer  parts  of  some 


&2        BEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

towns,  the  adoption  of  the  fee  charging  system  requires  to  be 
introduced  gradually  and,  indeed,  in  a  small  number  of  cases  is 
still  inadvisable."  However,  in  Manchester  the  fees  have  been 
dropped,  and  according  to  Mr.  Jones,  *  *  the  increased  attendance 
has  amply  justified  the  experiment  and  the  plan  has  been  con- 
tinued." 

In  Massachusetts  the  state  textile  schools  formerly  charged 
tuition,  but  the  industrial  commission  of  Massachusetts  abolished 
the  fees  after  a  good  deal  of  experiment  and  a  thorough  investi- 
gation. In  a  report  upon  the  industrial  work  of  the  Interna- 
tional Typographical  Union,  Mr.  "W.  B.  Prescott  says:  "Though 
the  tuition  fees  are  as  close  to  cost  as  it  is  possible  to  make  them, 
the  commission,  believing  that  a  taint  attaches  to  a  profit  mak- 
ing educational  system,  has  arranged  that  instruction  can  be  se- 
cured for  less  than  cost.  In  order  to  do  this,  the  union  will  give 
a  rebate  of  $5.00  to  students  who  have  by  their  assiduity  and  per- 
severence  shown  themselves  to  be  deserving.  This  method  of  re- 
ward differs  from  the  usual  one  of  offering  large  prizes  for  a 
few  specially  capable  students.  The  commission  and  the  union 
reasoned  that  the  average  man  suffered  most  by  reason  of  the 
inadequacies  of  the  apprenticeship  system,  and  it  is  this  man  the 
union  is  most  desirous  of  helping. '  * 

From  all  this  discussion  it  is  evident  that  private  institutions 
as  a  whole,  believe  in  the  tuition  system,  while  in  the  public  in- 
stitutions  there  is  a  tendency  toward  their  abolition.  It  is  very 
probable  that  in  our  state  some  arrangements  will  have  to  be 
made,  at  first,  for  a  slight  tuition.  This  was  found  necessary  in 
the  university  extension  work.  Certainly  the  tuition  should  be 
reduced  to  a  point  where  it  is  a  stimulus  rather  than  a  hardship. 
Of  course,  with  our  compulsory  continuation  school  work,  it  is 
very  probable  that  there  should  be  no  tuition  at  all,  because  that 
work  is  compulsory  and  the  stimulus  is  not  needed  to  the  same 
extent.  It  may  be  that  this  whole  question  of  stimulus  is  ex- 
aggerated and  that  the  experience  of!  Manchester  and  of  the 
textile  schools  in  Massachusetts  should  be  followed  in  our  state. 
However,  your  commission  has  set  forth  these  facts  for  what 
they  are  worth.  They  have  set  them  forth  as  a  warning,  for 
every  school  will,  have  to  meet  this  situation  as  soon  as  it 
begins  to  organize. 

There  is  another  administrative  question  which  comes  up  at 
once  in  relation  to  all  this  work,  and  that  is  the  question  of  some 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      93 

sort  of  a  reward  or  certificate  for  completed  courses  or  subjects. 
It  would  seem  that  some  kind  of  a  state  examination  should  be 
given  and  some  kind  of  a  state  certificate  issued  in  accordance 
with  the  work  completed  so  that  every  man  who  completes  work 
will  have  pride  in  receiving  such  a  certificate.  The  private  com- 
panies have  found  this  a  very  good  expedient  in  all  apprentice 
work,  and  there  seems  at  first  glance  to  be  no  reason  why  we 
could  not  use  it  in  our  public  work.  However,  a  difficulty  arises 
upon  a  more  careful  examination.  The  varying  standards  in 
varying  schools  must  be  taken  into  account.  The  different  kinds 
of  work  make  the  problem  quite  a  complex  one.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
has  found  it  a  strong  stimulus.  It  has  an  international  examina- 
tion, and  many  colleges  have  accepted  the  diplomas  from  this 
work.  But  your  commission  recognizes  that  we  must  not  stand 
ardize  at  this  time.  We  must  allow  free  play  and  elasticity  if 
we  are  to  get  the  best  results  from  the  plan  we  have  recom- 
mended. 

Sale  of  produce. — Your  commission  wishes  to  put  in  another 
word  of  warning  at  this  point.  There  are  those  in  the  country 
who  would  advocate  the  sale  of  produce  in  the  manner  of  the 
Eochester  schools  and  of  the  Manhattan  trade  schools  for  girls 
in  New  York  City.  The  latter  school  is  really  a  continuation 
school  of  the  best  kind.  The  girl  goes  from  the  bench,  where  she 
is  actually  working  upon  goods  made  to  sell,  to  continuation 
school  classes  in  art,  arithmetic  and  physiology.  Certainly  such 
an  arrangement  can  be  made  very  satisfactory.  The  point  has 
been  made  that  it  gives  a  shop  atmosphere  to  the  work,  but 
there  is  another  consideration  besides  this — the  financial  gain. 
The  Manhattan  trade  school  for  girls  pays  about  half  the  sal- 
aries of  the  school  from  this  source.  Some  of  the  other  schools 
add  materially  to  their  funds  by  this  method.  The  subject  is 
a  grave  one.  The  possibility  of  competition  with  local  indus- 
tries is  a  matter  which  must  be  looked  into  thoroughly  by  your 
governing  body.  Do  the  advantages  outweigh  the  disadvan- 
tages ?  The  value  of  trying  after  new  devices  and  new  discov- 
eries at  the  cost  of  bungling  and  making  unsalable  goods,  is 
the  basis  of  new  discoveries  and' "progress.  If  we  merely  make 
things  which  sell,  a  serious  change  may  creep  in  which  may 
blunt  the  creative  instinct.  No  trade  school  established  in 
this  state  should  take  this  step  without  the  mlost  thorough 
examination  of  it  from  every  standpoint,  This  brings  us  to. 
the  whole  question  of  experimental  work. 


94        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

Experimental  work. — We  have  before  shown  the  value  of 
experimental  work,  but  the  question  comes  up,  how  can  we  pro- 
vide for  it?  There  is  just  at  present  a  great  deal  of  discussion 
in  Germany  upon  this  question.  There  are  those  who  hold  that 
the  experimental  shops  do  little  good  and  cost  out  of  proportion 
to  what  they  are  worth.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  if  we 
can  preserve  the  element  of  experiment  or  the  element  of  origin- 
ality in  our  school  work  that  it  will  add  a  very  strong  psychologi- 
cal basis  to  our  industrial  instruction.  All  the  discoveries  in 
the  different  fields  of  industrial  life  today  must  not  be  left  to 
our  engineers.  Everything  possible  should  be  done  to  encour- 
age the  ingenuity  of  our  workmen.  Some  manufacturers  in 
America  today  point  out  that  the  mechanical  engineers  are  not 
doing  their  proportion  of  inventing.  If  the  opportunity  of 
original  work  is  not  cultivated  in  our  trade  schools,  then  we  will 
lose  much  indeed  of  the  elements  of  American  success.  The 
creation  of  curiosity,  the  awakening  of  instinct  and  the  encour- 
agement of  originality  should  always  be  undertaken  as  a  neces- 
sary part  of  any  trade  instruction.  If  these  features  do  not  go 
with  the  trade  school,  there  will  be  a  tendency  to  make  our  stu- 
dents mere  automatons  who  merely  go  over  and  over  what  has 
been  learned  in  the  past.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  state  indus- 
trial education  commission  should  cooperate  with  the  local  board 
to  the  end  that  this  question  be  settled  in  the  most  economical 
manner  with  the  highest  regard  for  both  the  welfare  of  the  in- 
dividual, the  employers  and  the  public.  Some  provisions 
should  be  worked  out;  your  commission  is  not  at  this  time 
prepared  to  state  how,  but  in  the  organization  of  single  indus- 
trial schools,  and  of  the  whole  industrial  educational  system, 
this  idea  of  creation,  of  stimulus  to  ingenuity  should  not  be 
neglected. 

Task  system. — We  have  already  several  times  referred  to  the 
"task  system."  The  regulation  and  introduction  of  this 
method  means  the  overturning  of  so  many  of  our  traditions  that 
it  requires  a  special  discussion. 

The  task  system  is,  after  all,  the  attempt  made  by  many 
people  today  to  put  into  the  school  curriculum  subjects  rather 
than  set  courses  on  a  time  basis.  Besides  being  a  means  of 
working  out  our  plans,  it  also  forms  a  basic  condition  of  in- 
centive. We  are  in  an  age  of  hurry;  we  want  speed  in  every- 
thing; everything  is  competition.  Competition,  whatever  its 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      95 

economic  faults,  is  a  tremendous  force  for  industrial  efficiency 
and  success.  If  then,  we  can  say  to  a  boy,  "You  don't  have  to 
wait  four  years  or  any  set  time  to  learn  a  trade — you  can  get 
through  in  three  years  if  you  work  hard ;  the  time  when  you  can 
be  a  wage  earner  depends  upon  the  completion  of  a  certain 
number  of  tasks;"  if  we  can  say  this  to  him,  then  we  shall 
furnish  an  incentive  for  him  to  work  intensely,  to  be  alive  and 
wide  awake.  His  course  will  not  be  merely  time  serving;  it 
gives  the  same  incentive  which  piece  work  gives  him  in  the 
factory.  The  task  system  is  not  only  the  basis  of  the  German 
trade  school  work,  but  it  is  also  the  basis  of  the  correspondence 
school  work  of  America.  When  the  correspondence  sheets  are 
completed,  then  the  course  is  done.  It  does  not  mean  that  a 
boy  has  to  go  to  school  for  one  year  or  two  years  or  any  given 
length  of  time.  After  correspondence  in  the  number  of  courses 
upon  which  he  works  is  done,  then  he  gets  his  credit. 

If  the  trade  school  is  to  be  adjusted  to  the  actual  conditions 
of  industry  today,  how  can  it  be  successful  if  it  makes  no  pro- 
vision for  speed,  energy  and  ambition?  Speed  is  one  of  the 
greatest  requisites  of  today.  Whatever  faults  there  are  in  this 
system,  they  are  American  faults — or  rather  American  virtues ; 
it  is  the  way  American  genius  has  worked  out  its  success. 
Of  course,  a  remarkable  minimum  time  limit  is  necessary. 

Managers  of  apprentice  schools  and  trade  schools  have  all 
given  testimony  on  these  points.  One  man  puts  all  of  his  ap- 
prentices on  piece  work  and  pays  them  on  that  basis ;  an  ad- 
mirable system  if  properly  supervised  and  if  made  inclusive 
enough  to  cover  many  different  kinds  of  processes.  The  general 
superintendent  of  the  motive  power  of  the  New  York  central 
lines,  J.  F.  Deems,  says:  "Class  room  instruction  is  largely 
individual,  as  the  same  classes  may  contain  apprentices  just  start- 
ing and  others  nearly  out  of  their  time.  Educational  ideas 
have  been  reversed;  *  *  *  the  work  is  so  arranged  that 
each  apprentice  may  go  as  rapidly  or  as  slowly  as  his  ability 
will  allows" 

Evidently  this  organization  which  has,  perhaps,  the  best  ap- 
prentice work  in  this  country  has  found  it  profitable  to  adopt 
the  German  task  system.  There  is  no  reason  why  this  method 
cannot  be  thoroughly  studied  and  arrangements  made  so  that 
the  difficulty  in  adapting  it  to  our  conditions  can  be  overcome 
and  the  system  be  made  the  basis  of  the  industrial  educational 


96        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

co-ordination  recommended  in  this  report.  Certainly  if  it  can 
be  worked,  it  will  solve  the  problem  of  uniting  the  trade 
school,  the  day  continuation  school,  the  high  school,  and  the 
evening  school  in  one  building  with  one  equipment.  The  diffi- 
culty will  be  encountered  in  adapting  this  system  to  any 
broader  aspects  of  industrial  education  which  will  include  of 
course,  some  lectures.  If  the  lectures  come  as  a  matter  of  pro- 
gression, they  will  necessarily  form  a  time  element  in  the  work, 
and  yet  this  difficulty  is  not  unsurmountable.  The  "task  sys- 
tem ' '  is  not  a  cure-all ;  but  worked  out  in  connection  with  the 
general  scheme,  it  will  be  found  eminently  practical. 

The  general  points  taken  up  in  this  chapter  have  been  treated 
here  because  they  deal  more  directly  with  the  whole  question 
of  industrial  education,  as  established  locally.  The  part  that 
the  university  can  play  in  this  work  has  been  discussed  from 
time  to  time,  but  it  is  necessary  to  consider  it  more  fully  in 
order  to  see  its  relationship  in  all  its  aspects  to  all  other 
factors. 


UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION 

The  university  extension  division  cannot,  from  its  very 
nature,  do  the  permanent  work  of  the  continuation  and  trade 
schools.  There  is  a  parallel  between  its  methods  and  work  and 
those  of  the  early  church  organizations.  It  was  necesary  at 
first  to  have  some  kind  of  missionary  work,  as  perhaps  some 
little  local  demand  became  evident.  Then  circuit  riders  were 
sent  around ;  men  who  preached  one  Sunday  in  one  little  town 
and  the  next  Sunday  in  another;  the  circuits  grew  smaller  as 
time  went  on  until  churches  were  built,  pastors  secured,  and 
permanent  organizations  established  in  each  town. 

The  university  extension  work  can  follow  the  same  method. 
"When  little  centers  are  established,  permanent  buildings  erected 
and  permanent  teachers  secured,  then  the  university  extension 
work  can  be  used  as  a  sort  of  circuit  riding  organization  for  the 
still  higher  grades  of  work  until  the  needs  of  the  higher  grades 
are  supplied  by  permanent  organization.  In  this  way  the  uni- 
versity extension  work  can  form  the  means  of  building  up  the 
whole  system  from  one  which  deals  even  with  the  needs  of  a 
single  individual  in  &  little  community  to  a  complete  system  for 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      97 

the  whole  state.  This  very  elasticity,  resulting  in  a  variety  of 
results  by  which  different  grades  of  students  and  different 
grades  of  work  can  be  taken  care  of,  is  just  what  made  Ger- 
man industrial  education  successful.  "With  a  mistaken  pol- 
icy, some  of  her  educational  directors,  fortunately,  how- 
ever, not  the  leaders,  have  recently  tried  to  grade  and, 
qualify  this  work.  This  has  been  defeated  and  the  work 
saved  from  becoming,  static.  The  present  system  in  that 
country  with  local  schools  adjusted  to  local  needs,  with  varying 
degrees  of  schools  from  the  lowest  continuation  school  through 
to  the  highest  technical  school,  has  been  a  far  better  arrange- 
ment for  Germany,  and  for  that  matter  can  be  a  far  better 
method  to  .start  with  in  this  state,  than  that  brought  about 
by  a  more  strict  classification.  In  the  proceedings  of  the  con- 
ference of  teachers  of  continuation  schools  recently  held  in 
Germany,  we  find  the  following:  "Privy  Councilor  Dr.  von 
Steefeld,  who  represented  the  Prussian  Minister  of  commerce 
and  industry,  deprecated  any  minute  definition  and  classifica- 
tion of  the  numerous  vocational  continuation  schools,  intimating 
that  such  uniformity  would  lead  to  mechanical  drill,  while 
the  greatest  merit  of  the  entire  system  of  special  schools  lay 
in  the  fact  of  its  not  being  a  system.  The  wonderful  variety 
of  the  vocational  schools  offered  a  possibility  of  adapting  the 
school-  to  local  needs  or  to  the  industrial  peculiarities  of  the 
locality  in  which  they  were  situated.  The  whole  subject  of 
classification  and  of  more  definite  organization  of  the  system  was 
referred  to  a  committee  for  a  future  report." 

It  is  just  this  element  of  elasticity  which  Privy  Councilor  Dr. 
von  Steefeld  advocates,  that  makes  the  extension  division 
of  peculiar  significance.  It  is  fortunate  for  us  at  this  time 
that  we  have  this  organization  in  our  state.  In  a  state  like  ours, 
containing  many  small  villages  with  one  or  two  manufacturing 
establishments,  the  question  upon  which  our  whole  scheme  must 
fall  or  must  live,  is  what  can  we  do  with  .industrial  education 
in  each  little  place?  The  large  manufacturer  does  not  have 
to  be  discussed.  He  can  teach ;  >e  can  gather  in  his  apprentices 
and  train  them,  but  most  of  the  factories  or  mercantile  estab- 
lishments in  "Wisconsin  are  not  large  enough  to  manage  an 
undertaking  of  this  kind  for  themselves.  Most  of  our  schools 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  especially  in  the  scattered 

7 


98        REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 

villages,  have  not  enough  money  to  give  any  kind  of  an  ad- 
vanced course.  If  we  cannot  give  these  courses  by  one  means 
we  must  give  them  by  another,  and  the  only  way  in  which  wo 
can  give  them  and  reach  out  to  all,  is  through  the  extension 
division,  its  correspondence  methods  and  its  traveling  lecturers 
and  teachers.  Professor  Person  in  his  book  upon  industrial 
education  says:  " Except  in  those  rare  instances  of  highly 
centralized  states  which  are  able  to  impose  upon  their  people 
educational  systems  created  de  novo,  such  an  institution  must 
be  the  result  of  gradual  development.  "When  its  scope  is  en- 
larged to  meet  new  situations,  to  reach  new  classes  or  to  train 
for  new  activities,  this  enlargement  should  be  accomplished 
neither  by  creating  new  instruments  unrelated  to  the  general 
system  nor  by  wholly  reconstructing  the  already  existing  sys- 
tem. This  should  be  accomplished  by  developing  new  members 
which  fit  into  the  existing  system  and  which  become  integral 
parts  of  it." 

Wisconsin  is  not  a  highly  centralized  state  and  cannot  impose 
upon  its  people  an  educational  system  created  de  novo.  The 
university  extension  division  will  not  interfere  in  any  way 
with  the  existing  system,  but  will  add  a  new  member  which  will 
dovetail  into  the  gaps  in  the  whole.  It  will  not  only  fit  into 
the  gaps  of  the  whole  system,  but  it  will  be  the  medium  by  which 
the  results  of  the  highest  economic  research  and  the  results  of 
the  best  economic  and  industrial  methods  can  be  added  from 
time  to  time.  It  will  be  a  long  time  in  this  state  before  every 
city  of  the  third  or  fourth  class  can  have  any  very  efficient 
higher  industrial  education.  The  elementary  grades  will  nec- 
essarily be  taken  care 'of  first  and  the  simple  needs  adminis- 
tered to.  If  the  spirit  in  which  this  report  is  written  be  car- 
ried out,  the  greatest  number  will  be  served  in  a  little  way 
until  something  can  be  done  for  those  who  demand  more  special 
work.  But  it  is  by  means  of  the  extension  division  that  these 
special  cases  can  be  taken  care  of.  If  a  young  man  outstrips 
his  competitors  and  by  extraordinary  brightness  devours  the 
educational  opportunities  of  his  prescribed  district,  there  will 
be  only  one  way  in  most  of  the  cities  and  villages  to  take  care- 
of  him,  and  that  is  by  allowing  him  to  expand  through  the  ex- 
tension division.  Classes  for  foremen  have  been  formed  in 
Germany  and  in  some  of  the  evening  industrial  schools  in  Bos- 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND 

ton.  There  is  no  doubt  that  in  smaller  places  it  will  be  a  long 
while  before  special  classes  of  that  kind  can  be  formed  in 
Wisconsin.  Until  these  classes  are  formed,  then,  these  different 
grades  must  be  taken  care  of  in  some  way,  because  these  men 
cannot  leave  their  positions  and  go  to  school.  The  school  must 
come  to  them  in  some  way. 

Says  a  Bulletin  of  the  New  York  State  Educational  Depart- 
ment: ^Experience  teaches  that  evening  schools  are  so  over- 
crowded in  the  elementary  course  that  these  advance  students 
suffer  through  insufficient  attention.  If  specially  provided  for, 
they  might  become  our  foremen,  superintendents,  and  teachers. 
Not  only  must  each  school  year's  work  be  driven  home  and 
clinched,  but  each  series  of  year's  work  must  be  so  clinched  as 
to  meet  the  needs  of  industries  which  shall  demand  thoroughly 
trained  men  for  foremanship." 

When  we  have  scarcely  any  evening  schools  in  Wisconsin 
at  the  present  time,  how  are  we  going  to  meet  this  need?  The 
fact  that  the  investigation  made  about  five  years  ago  by  a  mem- 
ber of  your  commission  showed  that  at  least  35,000  students 
were  taking  work  in  private  correspondence  schools  in  this 
state  and  the  fact  that  the  Massachusetts  educational  commis- 
sion found  at  least  50,000  men  and  women  taking  work  in  like 
schools  in  Massachusetts,  is  unanswerable  evidence  of  the  great 
demand  for  this  kind  of  work.  If  the  need  did  not  exist,  people 
would  not  be  paying  their  money.  If  they  could  have  evening 
schools  ready  at  hand,  they  would  go  to  them,  but  it  also  shows 
that  there  is  a  demand  for  instruction  right  at  home,  for  work 
which  can  be  accomplished  by  a  single  individual  after  his 
day's  labor. 

The  extension  division  of  the  university  not  only  has  proved 
this,  but  it  has  worked  out  new  means  of  teaching.  Its  group 
system  has  been  a  vast  improvement  over  the  work  done  by 
any  of  these  correspondence  schools.  It  is  now  capable  of 
taking  a  workman  at  any  stage  and  dealing  with  him  as  an  indi- 
vidual ;  it  can  take  classes  of  two  or  three  men,  or  take  classes 
of  ten  men  or  more,  as  is  now 'done  in  .the  shops  of  Milwaukee. 
These  classes  can  be  cared  for  until  regular  teachers  can  be 
secured  and  regular  centers  established,  thus  meeting  the  new 
miscellaneous  needs  which  are  constantly  coming  into  being. 

This  method  will  be  an  economical  one  for  our  state,  because 
it  insures  a  gradual  and  healthy  growth.  No  impractical  work 


E  COMMISSION   UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 


will  be  done.  It  will  not  create  de  novo  but  it  will  be  a  step- 
ping stone  from  the  old  to  the  new. 

It  does  not  seem  impossible  for  the  engineering  school  at  the 
University  of  Wisconsin  to  extend  its  summer  school  work  so 
that  high  class  mechanics  can  come  to  this  school  just  as  the 
farm  boys  now  go  to  the  agricultural  short  course.  The  be- 
ginning of  a  school  such  as  now  exists  in  Chemnitz,  Germany, 
where  thousands  of  this  class  of  students  assemble  from  all 
over  Germany  and  go  back  to  fill  up  all  grades  from  mechanical 
engineers  down  to  skilled  tenders  of  engines,  can  be  estab- 
lished. For  the  adult,  who  is  ambitious  to  learn  some  techni- 
cal process  of  a  special  kind,  this  work  can  be  of  particular 
value.  For  those  who  have  passed  the  trade  school  period,  but 
who  must  work  or  have  families  to  support,  the  different  meth- 
ods of  correspondence  teaching  can  be  used.  Where  the  even- 
ing school  does  not  exist  or  where  it  is  rudimentary,  then  the 
university  extension  work  can  always  fill  in. 

Your  commission,  however,  believes  that  liberal  provision 
should  be  made  by  the  state  of  Wisconsin  for  this  work,  and 
the  cost  of  it  to  the  individual  should  be  materially  reduced. 
The  work  has  shown  its  worth,  but  the  cost  should  not  fall  so 
heavily  upon  the  man  who  is  striving  to  improve  himself. 
Such  a  man  is  the  best  asset  the  state  has,  and  the  state  can  well 
afford  to  give  him  the  education  he  wants  at  a  greatly  reduced 
cost. 

The  university  summer  school  should  be  better  articulated 
with  the  whole  system  so  that  by-  cooperation  between  this 
school  and  the  correspondence  methods  and  other  methods  pur- 
sued by  the  extension  division  the  best  results  can  be  secured. 
Your  commission,  therefore,  recommends  that  fees  in  the  ex- 
tension department  be  reduced,  and  that  the  appropriation  for 
this  department  be  increased. 

Movable  schools,  institute  methods,  traveling  professors, 
short  courses,  lectures  —  all  these  means  of  connecting  the  edu- 
cational centers  with  the  people,  are  not  new.  They  have  been 
tried  all  over  Europe,  As  long  ago  as  50  years,  traveling 
teachers  were  at  work  in  Austria  and  Germany,  and  many  of  che 
good  lessons  learned  in  continuation  schools  and  the  trade 
school  work  of  these  countries  came  from  the  beginning  made 
by  this  kind  of  teaching.  We  have,  it  seems  to  us,  in  the 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  ^T 

eonsin  Free  Library  Commission,  a  cooperative  method  which 
has  not  yet  been  fully  developed  because  of  lack  of  funds.  The 
traveling  libraries  in  cooperation  with  the  extension  divi- 
sion, can  bring  into  our  small  industrial  centers  not  only  the 
industrial  and  technical  libraries  necessary,  the  most  up-to-date 
instructional  material  upon  every  phase  of  industrial  life,  but 
also  all  other  necessary  traveling  equipment  of  all  kinds. 
Traveling  books  in  small  villages  will  solve  many  of  the  ques- 
tions of  research,  and  traveling  apparatus  would,  it  seems  to 
us,  to  some  degree  at  least,  supplement  this  work. 


TEACHERS 

In  our  description  of  German  industrial  education  it  was 
shown- that  even  in  Germany  the  complaint  is  made  that  good 
teachers  cannot  be  secured.  The  ordinary  man  from  a  technical 
school  is  too  theoretical ;  the  ordinary  skilled  workman  cannot 
teach  well.  In  spite  of  all  the  influence  of  manufacturers,  the 
work  is  still  too  theoretical,  because  the  teachers  are  too  theor- 
etical. This  system  could  'be  easily  remedied  in  Wisconsin. 
We  have  scarcely  any  traditions  of  industrial  education  to  fight 
in  this  matter.  Therefore,  we  can  do  what  we  are  doing  in  agri- 
culture. The  boys  from  our  long  course  agricultural  courses 
are  now  becoming  the  teachers  in  the  Wisconsin  agricultural 
schools.  This  same  thing  can  be  done  in  the  mattter  of  good 
trade  school  teachers.  With  our  workshops  at  the  University, 
with  our  school  for  artisans,  with  the  university  extension  work, 
we  should  be  able  to  fill  the  needs  from  the  division  of  the  edu- 
cational school  of  the  university,  which  has  for  its  purpose  the 
training  of  teachers  of  trade  work.  The  establishment  of  a  school 
for  teachers  of  industrial  education  is  greatly  needed  in  this 
state.  With  the  criticism  which  can  be  given  to  the  methods 
pursued  in  such  a  school  by  the  actual  workers  who  are  now  in 
the  field  for  the  university  extension  division  and  who  are 
teaching  in  the  shops  and  factories  in  close  relation  to  the  prob- 
lems which  the  manufacturers  have  to  meet,  a  school  for  trade 
teachers  situated  at  the  state  university  will  have  great  advan- 
tages over  any  other  school  in  the  country.  The  men  who  wish 
to  be  teachers  in  this  work  can  be  given  chances  to  teach  in  con- 


&EPORT  OF  "THX  .COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE 


tinuation  schools  wherever  established  in  the  state,  for  practice 
work.  Such  men  can  be  required  to  spend  a  certain  time  in  the 
actual  work  in  factories  in  the  state  in  order  to  obtain  their  cer- 
tificates. Thus  we  can  combine  the  proper  teaching  methods 
with  the  actual  practice.  In  this  way  we  can  build  up  a  body 
of  men  who  can  supply  our  teaching  force  in  our  continuation 
schools,  our  trade  schools  and  our  technical  schools. 

In  Ireland  a  plan  has  been  recently  started  to  instruct  teachers. 
By  this  system,  schools  that  are  now  open  in  three  or  four 
large  cities  in  Ireland  give  training  for  men  who  are  already  in 
industry  and  who  want  to  teach  the-  trade  in  which  they  are 
proficient.  Summer  schools  are  also  provided  for  teachers  who 
are  teaching  the  common  branches  and  have  been  trained  in  the 
general  school  work  so  that  they  will  get  the  practical  instruc- 
tion so  necessary  in  order  to  become  an  efficient  instructor  in  the 
trade  school.  The  University  of  Wisconsin  could  open  such 
summer  schools  and  it  would  be  well  perhaps  to  centralize  the 
work  there  for  a  while  in  order  that  the  most  thorough  and 
practical  methods  could  be  worked  out,  and  in  order  that  the 
manual  training  spirit  may  be  superseded  by  actual  factory 
spirit. 

We  should  not  recruit  our  teaching  forces  in  this  state  from 
manual  training  teachers  who  have  already  set  ideas  upon  the 
subject  of  teaching.  Bather  we  should  go  to  the  opposite  ex- 
treme and  take  practical  men  and  give  them  summer  school  short 
courses. 

In  local  districts  also  various  expedients  can  be  used.  In 
England  some  of  the  most  successful  work  has  been  done  by  al- 
lowing the  local  trade  unions  to  select  teachers  in  trades  from 
among  their  skilled  journeymen.  Of  course  it  is  easier  to  select 
teachers  of  this  kind  for  the  'skilled  manual  work  than  it  is  to 
select  them  for  the  general  school  work,  such  as  the  teaching  of 
citizenship,  English,  physics,  chemistry,  etc.  It  is  easier  to  se- 
lect plumbers  and  carpenters  or  cabinet  makers  than  it  is  to  se- 
lect good  teachers  with  the  right  standpoint  for  the  other  work. 


EXTENSION  OP  -INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.    103 


TEXT  BOOKS 

In  Germany  it  is  generally  thought  that  text  books  cannot 
be  written  which  will  fit  into  the  varying  needs  of  industrial 
education.  The  Germans  believe  that  the  text  books  must  vary, 
as  the  needs  vary  in  localities  and  industries.  There  are  then, 
comparatively  very  few  text  books.  Every  German  teacher 
works  out  his  tasks  and  keeps  his  task  book  for  himself.  It  may 
be  that  there  is  another  reason  that  Germany  is  not  anxious  that 
text  books  be  printed;  there  seems  to  be  a  fear  that  other  coun- 
tries will  get  hold  of  her  methods  or  her  secrets.  Whatever  the 
cause  may  be,  a  great  loss  is  apparent  here,  as  the  same  work 
has  to  be.  done  over  and  over  again,  as  it  often  happens  that 
when  a  good  teacher  leaves  the  work,  the  best  methods  go  with 
that  teacher. 

The  success  of  the  International  correspondence  schools  and 
similar  schools  in  this  country  in  printing  their  own  text  books 
shows  that  clever,  up-to-date  text  books  can  be  published  which 
will -be  of  the  greatest  service  in  industrial  teaching.  The  uni- 
versity extension  division  has  already  begun  the  preparation  of 
books  of  this  sort,  and  it  seems  that  a  system  of  industrial  edu- 
cational leaflets  could  be  issued,  at  very  small  cost,  so  that  the 
best  experience  and  the  highest  skill  of  the  best  extension  teach- 
ers can  be  put  into  these  text  books  and  distributed  among  the 
students  in  the  continuation  schools  and  trade  schools  through- 
out the  state.  This  is  another  advantage  to  which  we  fall  heir, 
through  the  existence  of  the  extension  division.  These  text 
books  would  cost  our  state  very  little,  as  they  could  be  sold  to 
surrounding  states  and  the  demand  for  them  throughout  the 
country  would  doubtless  be  very  great. 

Your  commission  believes  that  as  an  essential  element  in  the 
success  of  these  schools  and  as  a  directing  force  toward  right 
methods,  the  text  books  now  existing  in  manuscript  form 
among  the  extension  teachers  should  be  printed  by  the  univer- 
sity and  arrangements  made  for  the  distribution  of  them  at 
cost  among  the  trade  schools  and  classes  as  soon  as  they  are 
established. 


104      REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  .THE 


SECONDARY  CONSIDERATIONS 

It  was  the  German,  philosopher,  Humboldt,  who  said :  ' '  What- 
ever you  put  into  the  State  you  must  first  put  into  the  schools ' '. 
If  the  industrial  education  advocated  by  your  commission  will 
lead  merely  to  a  better  economic  man,  it  will  not  reach  its 
highest  aim.  It  must  be  judged  by  its  by-products  as  well  as 
by  its  result  in  dollars  and  cents.  It  must  be  judged  by  its 
effect  upon  the  life  of  the  people  and  upon  human  happiness 
and  a  varying  number  of  our  great  problems,  social  and  econo- 
mic and  moral,  with  which  we  have  to  deal  today.  To  be  in  its 
truest  sense  efficient,  it  must  be  a  truly  democratic  education, 
an  education  which  will  fit  all  the  needs  of  all  the  people.  This 
does  not  mean,  then,  that  it  must  be  merely -utilitarian,  but  the 
effect  of  it  must  be  such  that  we  can  answer  definitely  the  ques- 
tion; will  it  improve  the  moral  situation?  "Will  the  boy  who 
is  industrially  educated  under  this  system  be  a  better  man  or 
a  better  husband?  Will  he  be  a  better  citizen?  Will  he  have 
a  higher  sense  of  moral  obligation?  Will  he  be  more  truthful, 
honest  ?  Will  he  have  a  better  physique  ?  Will  he  be  a  better 
factor  in  our  life  today? 

It  is  obvious  that  in  order  to  make  this  system  so  that  all  these 
questions  can  be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  additions  must  be 
made  to  the  industrial  program.  The  Germans  have  not  for- 
gotten to  do  this.  They  are  noted  as  a  law-abiding  and 
patriotic  people.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the -system  by  which 
citizenship  is  taught  in  the  German  continuation  schools  has 
its  effect  upon  this  spirit  in  that  country. 

In  this  connection,  Dr.  George  Kerschensteiner  of  Munich 
has  the  following  to  say :  ' '  *  *As  you  see,  professional  effi- 

ciency is  put  foremost  because  those  who  cannot  stand  upon 
their  own  feet  vocationally  are  unable  to  help  others  and  pre- 
vent them  from  falling.  But  in  closest  contact  and  intimately 
related  with  vocational  education  must  go  the  second  aim  of  our 
programme;  to  develop  insight  into  the  connection  and  relation 
of  the  interests  of  all  citizens  alike,  and  especially  of  our  coun- 
try, to  take  care  that  that  interest  manifests  itself  in  the  exer- 
cise of  patriotic  self-sacrifice,  justice,  self-control,  co-operative 
spirit  and  rational  hysdene,  sensible  frugal  habits  of  living.  If 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL,  TRAINING.     105 

we  keep  the  first  aim  only  uppermost  in  our  educational  endea- 
vors, then  there  is,  danger  of  training  up  an  excessive  profes- 
sional and  individual  egotism. 

"And  just  here  we  touch  the  critical  point  in  our  considera- 
tion of  the  value  of  industrial  schools  and  education.  If  we  in- 
struct the  prospective  industrial  mechanical  worker  not  only  in 
the  mechanical-technical  part  of  his  trade  but  likewise  introduce 
him  into  the  mysteries  of  social  and  economic  conditions,  not 
only  of  industrial  life  but  with  equal  interest  into  the  social 
and  economic  life  of  the  community  and  nation  of  which  he  is 
a  citizen;  if  we  train  him  from  early  youth  to  make  him  feel 
that  he  is  a  part,  however  small  a  part,  of  the  larger  whole  of 
the  nation  to  which  he  is  inseparably  tied  by  all  his  interests, 
then  he  will  be  more  or  less  able  to  counteract  and  modify,  if 
not  to  annul,  the  evil  tendencies  of  modern  industrial  conditions. 

"We  should  not  forget  that  economic  and  social  conditions 
are  not  only  the  product  of  natural  laws  but  to  no  small  degree 
they  are  the  product  of  the  moral  and  educational  standards  of 
the  people  *  *  *  ." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  industrial  training  in  itself  will  be  of 
great  service  in  creating  the  sense  of  order,  discipline  and  pa- 
tience so  necessary  to  good  citizenship.  Commissioner  Draper 
in  an  address  in  Albany  in  1908  said:  "I  hesitate  not  a  mo- 
ment in  saying  that  good  citizenship,  and  the  thrift  and  morals 
of  the  country  are  quite  as  dependent  upon  the  mass  being 
trained  to  skilled  work  with  their  hands,  as  upon  a  class  being 
advanced  in  scientific  knowledge  or  in  professional  accomplish- 
ments. The  greatness  of  the  nation  is  contingent  upon  bring- 
ing the  truths  which  science  unlocks,  to  the  life,  and  particularly 
to  the  vocations,  of  the  people.  But  that  can  be  done  only  where 
a  people  is  inured  to  work;  where  they  have,  and  love,  voca- 
tions. 

1 '  The  successful  workman  is  a  happier  man  and  a  more  relia- 
ble citizen,  a  much  larger  factor  in  giving  strength  and  balance 
to  his  country,  than  the  unsuccessful  or  the  only  half  successful 
professional  man.  It  adds  little  to  one's  value  as  a  civic  unit 
that  he  be  elaborately  train e*d  in  theory,  or  in  science,  or  in 
skill,  if  his  training  has  been  at  the  cost  of  his  balance ;  if  he 
knows  one  thing  at  the  expense  of  many  other  things  which 
every  good  citizen  is,  bound  to  know,  and  of  that  balance  which 
£yery  good  citizen  is  bound  to  have.  And  it  makes  little 


106      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

tion  to  the  strength,  of  a  nation  that  some  of  the  people  have 
the  highest  learning,  even  that  the  advanced  schools  and  the  pro- 
fessional life  are  overcrowded,  if  the  masses  have  not  love  and 
capacity  for  growing  t Jungs  and  for  making  things." 

Now  if  we  can  supplement  this  splendid  fundamental  train- 
ing with  some  definite  knowledge  of  actual  conditions  and  reai 
appreciation  of  government,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  results 
will  be  those  sought  for.  The  teaching  of  civics  has  been  recog- 
nized as  difficult,  and  is  too  often  poorly  done,  but  even  the 
little  civics  which  is  taught  in  our  high  schools  is  something. 
Practically  nothing  has  been  done  in  the  common  schools.  The 
boy  leaves  the  common  school  with  but  rudimentary  ideas  of  his 
duty  towards  this  government.  Indeed  it  would  seem  to  your 
commission  that  the  same  methods  which  have  been  used  so  suc- 
cessfully in  industrial  education,  could  be  used  in  the  teaching 
of  citizenship.  There  is  at  present  a  widespread  movement 
which  finds  expression  in  boys'  republics,  in  citizenship  classes 
in  schools,  and  in  patriotic  plays,  all  of  which  tends  to  dramatize 
or  visualize  the  teaching  of  patriotism  and  citizenship.  All  of 
this,  it  seems  to  us,  could  be  in  some  degree  adopted  in  all  in- 
dustrial classes  and  we  believe  that  no  state  aid  should  be  given 
unless  some  such  teaching  be  a  part  of  the  curriculum  of  each 
school. 

In  this  connection,  the  debating  department  of  the  university 
extension  division  could  be  of  great  service.  Its  outlines  for 
debates  upon  public  questions  could  be  used  by  these  classes 
and  the  necessary  traveling  data  or  traveling  libraries  could  be 
sent  to  them.  There  is  no  better  way  of  learning  than  by  debat- 
ing, and  a  sound  and  thorough  knowledge  of  public  questions 
can  be  acquired  in  all  continuation,  evening  and  industrial 
schools  by  this  method. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  courses  in  hygiene,  sanitation,  protec- 
tive devices  in  machinery  as  well  as  the  courses  in  citizenship, 
are  indispensable  in  these  schools.  They  are  seldom  or  never 
omitted  in  the  best  continuation  schools  abroad.  In  practically 
every  continuation  class  in  Munich  a  boy  has  to  take  one  hour  a 
week  of  this  training,  for  four  years.  The  cumulative  effect  of  • 
this  upon  citizenship  as  well  as  upon  the  health  and  stamina 
of  the  race  is  very  great  and  cannot  be  underestimated. 

The  combating  of  political  corruption,  as  well  as  physical 
disease,  is  one  of  the  great  by-products  of  this  work,  the  effect 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.    107 

of  which,  has  not  been  fully  understood  in  connection  with  other 
correlated  movements  in  Germany.  Sanitary  conditions  of  fac- 
tories, sanitary  conditions  of  homes,  progress  towards  health 
and  the  fighting  of  disease,  the  economies  practiced  by  the  cut- 
ting down  of  injuries  and  of  sickness  caused  by  carelessness  in 
factories,  the  cheapening  of  industrial  insurance — all  come  from 
this  source.  These  are  powerful  influences  which  are  basic, and 
cannot  be  omitted.  It  is  but  a  truism  to  say  that  intelligence 
is  aided  when  disease  is  curbed  and  good,  cleanly  conditions  ex- 
ist in  the  home. 

Reformers  in  America  are  striving  to  get  some  knowledge  of 
why  corruption  is  rampant  here.  We  are  fighting  political  cor- 
ruption, and  physical  disease  at  the  same  time.  We  may  have 
reform  periods  or  spasms ;  we  may  create  temporary  organiza- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  reforming  government ;  we  may  deliver 
lectures,  or  our  magazines  may  lead  in  pointing  out  the  defects 
in  government,  but  we  will  never  get  a  true  sense  of  obligation 
to  the  state  until  we  teach  that  obligation.  If  we  teach  this  in 
college  or  the  high  school  we  will  not  hit  the  mark.  How  can 
we,  when  four-fifths  of  the  boys  and  girls  do  not  go  to  high 
school  or  college?  We  never  can  completely  fight  disease,  po- 
litical or  physical,  unless  we  teach  these  four-fifths  in  some  way, 
how  to  fight. 

Our  great  success  in  the  battle  against  tuberculosis  comes 
largely  from  a  determined  effort  to  educate  our  people  in  a 
knowledge  of^that  disease,  its  prevention  and  cure.  We  can 
never  eradicate  political  corruption  unless  we  use  the  same  de- 
termination and  begin  at  the  time  when  a  young  man  can  be 
taught  something  about  citizenship.  Our  lawyers  tell  us  that 
very  little  can  be  done  by  legislation;  that  we  cannot  make  peo- 
ple good  by  law.  The  Germans  look  upon  the  law  and  the  state 
as  great  moral  forces,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  the  lesson  of  morai 
obligation  would  be  anv  more  effective  in  Germany  than  it  is 
in  this  country,  if  it  were  not  based  upon  civic?  education. 

Consider  tuberculosis  for  a  moment.  We  had  in  America  a 
few  years  ago  awful  conditions  in  the  slums  of  our  cities.  We 
had  what  were  known  as  the  "lung  blocks."  It  was  the  custom 
to  allow  the  poor  people  who  had  tuberculosis  to  die  in  these 
horrible  unsanitary  tenements  without  doing  anything  to  eradi- 
cate the  scourge.  If  a  man  was  seized  with  tuberculosis,  people 
said:  "Well,  what  can  we  do?  He  will  die.  We  can  do  noth- 


108      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

ing."  Scientists  had  for  a  long  time  known  that  if  patients 
could  be  segregated  and  fresh  air  and  cleanliness  could  be  pro- 
vided, that  we  would  stand  a  good  chance  of  winning  the  battle 
against  tuberculosis.  That  terrible  disease  had  its  main  seats 
in  the  horribly  over-crowded  sections  in  our  cities,  inhabited 
mainly  by  immigrants  or  the  sons  and.  daughters  of  immigrants. 
What  was  done  about  it  in  the  end?  With  desperate  odds 
against  us,  we  began  a  great  campaign  of  education.  We  put 
enormous  sums  of  money  into  the  fight  to  teach  people  how  to 
overcome  this  great  plague.  Now  we  are  winning  the  battle  and 
we, are  driving  this  disease  out  of  our  cities  and  our  country — 
by  education. 

We  have  eliminated  other  diseases  as  the  result  of  this  great 
movement  and  as  a  by-product  of  our  methods.  By  teaching 
cleanliness,  fresh  air,  sanitation,  we  have  helped  to  drive  away 
typhoid  fever  and  pneumonia,  and  to  raise  the  physical  and 
mental  standards  of  our  people.  Our  political  disease  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  our  physical  disease.  It  comes  from  the  same 
source.  It  comes  largely  from  the  over-crowded,  unsanitary 
districts  in  our  cities.  It  comes  largely  from  alien  population 
pouring  into  the  country  at  the  rate  of  over  a  million  a  year. 
However  good  the  stock  from  which  they  came,  the  great  ma- 
jority of  our  immigrants  know  very  little  about  the  history  of 
our  country ;  in  fact,  they  hardly  know  what  American  citjzenr 
ship  is.  They  come  in  contact  with  the  worst  types  of  citizen- 
ship we  have  among  us;  they  see  the  deference  to  wealth 
acquired  by  corruption,  and  the  general  carelessness  of  our 
ideals  concerning  government.  They  natural  form  their  ideals 
under  these  conditions.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  when  nothing 
is  done  to  cure  political  corruption,  it  should  be  as  rife  in  these 
places  as  tuberculosis? 

When  an  immigrant  comes  to  this  shore,  he  has  to  wait  five 
years  before  he  is  naturalized.  In  those  five  years  what  educa- 
tion in  citizenship  does  he  obtain?  He  sees  the  poor  in  the 
slums  around  him,  he  realizes  the  desperate  fight  for  existence , 
he  often  finds  that  his  only  help  in  that  strife  is  the  political 
boss  or  the  corrupt  politician.  He  cannot  help  getting  a  per- 
verted idea  of  citizenship.  How  can  we  fight  this  political 
tuberculosis  and  have  any  success?  Does  it  seem  possible  that 
any  industrial  prosperity  which  comes  from  industrial  educa- 
tion will  be  of  any  real  use  to  us  in  the  future,  if  conditions 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.    109 

similar  to  these  exist?  If  we  strive  to  build  up  prosperity 
through,  industrial  education  without  building  up  the  health  of 
the  average  man  or  average  woman,  and  without  building  up 
true  citizenship,  we  will  not  have  really  democratic  education. 
Any  industrial  education  without  these  other  factors  will  be  a 
dismal  failure.  We  may  pass  all  the  resolutions  we  want  to, 
but  the  only  way  to  cure  political  corruption  in  our  cities  is  to 
cure  it  the  way  we  are  stamping  out  tuberculosis — by  education. 

The  following  taken  from  a  bulletin  of  the  Massachusetts  in- 
dustrial education  commission  report  is  an  outline  of  some  of 
the  required  work  in  the  continuation  schools  of  Munich: 

"  (c)  STUDIES  OF  LIFE  AND  CITIZENSHIP. — This  instruction 
will  supply  to  the  pupil  the  recognition  of  the  necessity  of  a 
reasonable  conduct  of  life.  He  takes  up  on  the  one  hand  the 
problems  of  hygiene,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  questions  of  liv- 
ing wrhich  result  from  his  duties  to  his  vocation,  the  community 
and  the  state,  in  order  that  he  may  obtain  a  clear  insight  into 
the  necessarily  close  connection  of  the  interests  of  all  classes  of 
people  and  trade  groups. 

"CLASS  I. — HYGIENE:  The  structure  of  the  human  body. 
Breathing,  nourishment  and  circulation  of  the  blood — means  of 
subsistence  and  enjoyment  according  to  their  value  and  worth- 
lessness;  the  care  of  the  skin  and  teeth;  dwelling  and  clothing; 
work  and  recreation ;  the  harmful  influences  of  the  trade ;  main- 
tenance of  cleanliness.  DEPORTMENT.  Conduct  at  home;  in 
school ;  on  the  street ;  in  society ;  toward  teachers  and  helpers. 

"CLASS  III. — CITIZENSHIP:  The  communal  condition.  The 
problems  ,of  communal  groups;  their  social  and  economic  ar- 
rangements. Eights  and  duties  of  communal  citizens;  com- 
munal titular  officials.  The  constitution  of  Bavaria.  Problem* 
of  state  federation.  Duties  and  rights  of  citizens  of  the  state. 
State  titular  officials.  The  Bavarian  state  government.  The 
system  of  government  of  the  German  -Empire.  The  problems  of 
the  Empire.  Social  legislation.  Trade  and  commerce  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  their  significance  for  the  well-being  of 
the  citizens  and  of  the  industrialist." 

The  courses  in  safety  devices  will  be  of  special  interest  to 
manufacturers  at  this  time.  There  is  no  doubt  that  workmen's 
compensation  acts  and  various  insurance  schemes  of  a  similar 
nature  will  very  soon  be  passed  in  America  by  all  the  states. 


110      REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

Courses  of  this  kind  will  be  a  blessing  to  the  workman  and  will 
be  a  source  of  economy  to  the  manufacturer. 

To-day,  there  is  a  great  movement  for  the  medical  inspection 
of  children.  This  medical  inspection  in  the  cities  where  it  has 
been  tried,  has  proved  that  many  children  can  be  brightened 
and  dullness  prevented.  It  has  shown  that  a  great  deal  of  the 
waste  and  human  wreckage  comes  from  poor  physical  condition. 
The  examination  has  shown  a  large  percentage  of  obstruction  to 
breathing,  of  throat  and  eye  troubles,  and  of  curvature  of  the 
spine  and  similar  diseases.  But  this  medical  inspection  exists 
only  in  a  very  few  cities  and  in  a  very  superficial  way.  It  seems 
to  your  commission  that  the  workers  in  the  factories  should 
have  the  benefits  of  medical  inspection  extended  to  them  and  a 
chance  to  build  up  impaired  health  or  to  cure  deformities. 
Incipient  cases  of  tuberculosis  could  be  noted  at  once  if 
these  courses  in  hygiene  included  medical  inspection  in 
all  the  continuation  schools,  trade  schools  or  evening  schools. 
If  in  colleges  and  high  schools  we  have  gymnasiums,  phy- 
sical examinations,  etc.,  it  appears  to  our  reason  that  we 
should  have  the  same  thing  in  all.  these  schools  for  our 
industrial  army.  It  is  only  reasonable  that  the  continua- 
tion school  should  be  a  great  factor  in  building  up  the 
strength  of  th.e  people  if  this  kind  of  instruction  and 
examination  were  instituted  there.  If  it  is  an  investment  for 
the  state  or  city  to  put  large  sums  of  money  into  colleges  and 
high  schools  for  gymnasiums  and  health  instruction,  then  surely 
it  is  an  investment  of  a  greater  degree  to  do  the  same  thing  for 
the  great  mass  of  the  people. 

In  Germany  some  periods  each  week  are  given  to  gymnastic 
work.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  splendid  "Turner'1 
movement  is  now  being  connected  with  these  schools.  Nearly 
all  the  continuation  schools  have  some  kind  of  gymnastic  work, 
and  many  of  them  have  physical  examination. 

Vocational  direction. — The  Germans  try  to  fit  a  boy  to  the 
vocation  which  he  undertakes.  Pamphlets  are  sent  out  describ- 
ing the  standards  of  strength  necessary  for  certain  different 
trades  and  warning  parents  and  children  what  diseases  are  in- 
herent in  certain  of  them.  For  instance,  if  a  child  has  a  history 
which  may  show  a  tendency  toward  tuberculosis,  then  that  child 
is  directed  away  from  occupations  in  which  the  statistics  show 
that  a  high  rate  of  tuberculosis  exists,  If  a  child  is  physically 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.    Ill 

not  strong,  lie  is  not  advised  to  go  into  a  trade  where  physical 
strength  is  demanded. 

This  question  of  -vocational  direction  is  involved  with  the  ques- 
tion of  sanitation  and  hygiene.  Vocational  direction  is  used  in 
the  state  employment  agencies  and  labor  exchanges  in  Germany, 
and  it  has  now  been  tried  in  the  schools  of  New  York  and  an 
official  has  been  secured  whose  duty  it  is  to  see  that  the  work  is 
properly  carried  out.  In  Boston,  too,  a  vocational  bureau  exists 
and  in  many  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  social  settlements,  vocational 
direction  bureaus  have  been  recently  established.  It  seems  to 
your  commission  that  .as  an  integral  part  of  this  whole  system, 
vocational  direction  should  be  used  in  continuation  schools, 
evening  schools  and  trade  schools.  Your  commission  does  not 
care  to  confuse  the  issue  by  recommending  too  many  newly  tried 
educational  experiments,  but  it  would  suggest  that  this  may  be 
a  matter  which  can  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  industrial 
education  commission  which  it  has  recommended.  Certainly 
medical  inspection  and  vocational  direction  would  be  valuable 
assets  and  valuable  investments  to  any  system  of  industrial 
education. 

Social  factors. — Your  commission  has  already  called  attention 
to  the  fact  that  in  England  and  in  many  of  the  private  evening 
schools  of  America,  attempts  have  been  made  to  counteract  the 
social  dissipation  of  our  times  by  bringing  together  young  people 
in  healthy  social  diversion  in  the  evening.  The  university  ex- 
tension has  recently  secured  a  director  who  is  to  build  up  the 
work  of  making  the  schools  social  centers.  It  would  seem  to  us 
that  this  is  not  a  fad;  that  the  proper  development  of  social 
functions  would  be  a  great  stimulus  to  education.  Boys  and 
girls  cannot  work  all  the  time  and  must  have  certain  social  di- 
versions. These  social  diversions  can  be  the  incentives,  as  has 
been  pointed  out,  for  other  and,  more  serious  things.  As  Mr. 
Jones  of  the  New  York  department  of  education  says  of  this 
work  in  England:  ''Each  school  is  for  the  most  part  a  little 
center  of  life  and  civilization,  not  merely  a  collection  of  classes. 
One  advantage  of  this  work  is- that  it  develops  the  feeling  of  co- 
herence of  the  spirit  of  democracy.  Social  gatherings  are  al- 
lowed in  the  evening  school  rooms  once  a  month  or  on  evenings 
when  the  school  is  not  in  session.  No  fee  is  charged  for  this. 
The  schools  are  in  a  measure  the  social  clubs  of  the  common 


1.12      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS 

people  and  are  of  very  great  influence  and  importance."  It 
would  seem  to  your  commission  that  this  socialization  of  even- 
ing schools  through  the  extension  division  is  an  important  ele- 
ment in  this  work,  a  great  incentive  to  education  and  a  very 
real  need  in  the  life  of  our  people  today. 


MISCELLANEOUS  SUGGESTIONS 

Blind  alleys. — It  is  very  easy  to  fix  the  connection  between 
the  elementary  industrial  classes  and  the  higher  classes  or  the 
university.  It  will  be  very  easy,  for  instance,  to  give  a  boy  a 
chance  to  continue  toward  higher  education,  by  making  provi- 
sion for  a  connecting  link — a  course  from  which  students  of  the 
county  agricultural  schools  and  industrial  schools  can  enter  the 
university.  This  could  be  so  arranged  that  the  boy  could  enter 
classes  in  the  university  along  the  lines  in  which  he  had  already 
specialized  and  at  the  same  time  be  prepared  by  means  of  sub- 
collegiate  courses,  in  subjects  in  which  he  is  deficient.  In  this 
manner  he  can  go  on  to  the  highest  grade  work.  Such  a  course 
would  cost  very  little,  and  would  form  the  one  connecting  link 
between  trade  schools,  county  agricultural  schools  and  the 
higher  education  which  so  many  opponents  of  industrial  schools 
point  out  as  necessary  -in  America.  The  same  principle  could 
be  applied  to  any  of  our  normal  schools. 

As  has  been  suggested  previously,  in  the  continuation  schools 
until  a  boy  is  16  years  of  age  he  should  be  given,  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  authorities  and  his  parents,  a  reasonable  choice 
of  subjects  not  related  to  the  temporary  occupation  in  which 
he  happens  to  be  engaged.  This  certainly  will  answer  the  argu- 
ment that  a  boy  once  in  a  trade  will  have  to.  stay  in  it  if  he  goes 
to  the  industrial  school.  If  carefully  supervised,  the  boy  who 
is  already  working,  can  go  on  through  the  continuation  schools 
and  work  his  way  up  the  ranks  in  the  same  way  as  his  more 
fortunate  brother.  There  are  blind  alleys  in  education  at  the 
present  time.  They  can  be  abolished  by  industrial  education, 
commercial  education  and  continuation  schools,  and  instead 
of  forming  class  distinction,  these  schools  will  help  to  break 
up  any  tendencies  towards  social  gradations  just  as  they  are  now 
helping  to  break  up  class  distinction  in  the  old  countries. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING    113 

Cost. — There  may  be  those  who  will  hesitate  at  the  cost  of 
this  system.  It  is  not  a  question  of  cost  at  all — it  is  an  invest- 
ment. Says  James  E.  Russell  at  a  meeting  of  the  Columbia 
college  convocation:  "We  accept  the  politician's  dictum  that 
we  are  too  poor  to  spend  more  than  we  do  on  education^  when 
the  fact  is  that  we  are  too  poor  to  spend  so  little.  More,  much 
more,  than  we  now  spend  on  education  would  be  money  in  our 
pockets  if  only  we  knew  how  to  spend  it  right."  In  business 
we  do  not  ask,  "How  much  will  it  cost?"  without  thinking 
"How  much  can  we  make  out  of  it?  Is  it  a  good  investment?" 
We  do  not  have  to  defend  the  appropriation  of  any  reasonable 
amount  of  money  for  this  work,  as  it  is  an  investment  and  will 
bring  back  prosperity  and  happiness  to  the  state.  • 

Should  be  always  £OT  the  many, — Finally  there  are  some 
warnings  which  your  commission  wishes  to  give.  There  will  be 
of  course  an  inevitable  tendency  to  -make  educational  institu- 
tions aristocratic,  to  work  for  the  few  rather  than  the  many. 
We  must  see  to  it  that  trade  schools  remain  trade  schools  in  fact. 
Time  and  time  again  institutions  have  been  started  in  America 
with  the  ideal  of  reaching  trades  or  industrial  education,  and 
after  a  while  one  advanced  study  after  another  has  been  intro- 
duced until  these  schools  become  technical  institutions.  The 
original  purpose  of  what  are  now  our  engineering  colleges  in 
our  state  universities  was  to  reach  trades  or  mechanical  arts 
rather  than  merely  engineering.  There  seems  to  be  something 
in  the  psychology  of  the  teacher  which  makes  him  prefer  to 
teach  a  few  high  grade  scholars  rather  than  the  general  mass 
of  the  people. 

With  this  warning  before  us,  every  effort  should  be  made  to 
keep  industrial  education  from  going  this  course.  The  institu- 
tion of  general  and  local  committees  of  employers  and  em- 
ployees as  proposed  by  your  commission  has  been  an  effective 
device  in  Germany  and  should  be  as  useful  here. 


114      REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE. 


PAET  III. 


AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION. 

In  presenting  briefly  the  situation  as  it  relates  to  agriculture, 
it  has  been  decided  to  limit  the  discussion  to  the  conditions  as 
they  exist  in  the  state  since  an  attempt  to  treat  of  agricultural 
education  broadly  would  involve  a  treatise.  The  two  phases  of 
the  subject  considered  are — the  value  of  agricultural  training 
and  the  condition  of  agricultural  teaching  in  the  state  and  sug- 
gestions for  its  further  improvement. 


THE  VALUE  OF  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING 

Agricultural  teaching  has  a  dual  purpose,  and  no  discussion 
of  the  broader  phases  of  agricultural  education  can  treat  this 
subject  fairly  unless  these  purposes  are  so  clearly  set  forth 
that  there  is  little  chance  to  lose  sight  of  them  or  to  confuse  the 
issue  by  limiting  the  discussion  to  a  mere  "utilitarian"  point  of 
view. 

The  advocates  of  agricultural  instruction  claim  for  it  a  high 
educational  value  as  well  as  a  very  great  economic  one.  It  is 
these  two  values  that  we  must  keep  clearly  in  mind  in  this  dis- 
cussion. Agricultural  teaching  may,  if  properly  taught,  do  as 
much  far  the  child  in  giving  him  a  body  of  useful  information, 
(in  developing  his  mental  powers),  and  in  broadening  his  out- 
look and  giving  him  greater  opportunity  for  the  proper  enjoy- 
ment of  leisure  hours,  as  any  other  subject  of  study. 

But  agricultural  training  is  of  very  great  economic  impor- 
tance. The  simple  statement  of  a  few  facts  will  make  apparent 
the  validity  of  this  claim.  The  possible  Wisconsin  corn  crop 
is  materially  reduced  through  ignorance  of  proper  methods  to 
be  used  in  the  selection,  care  and  testing  of  seed  corn.  In  many 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  DRAINING. 

portions  of  the  state  the  producing  power  of  the  land  is  im- 
paired fully  25%  through  the  inroads  of  Canada  thistles,  quack 
grass  and  other  noxious  weeds.  The  dairy  industry  now  amounts 
to  $80,000,000  annually,  yet  the  average  annual  yield  per  cow 
is  about  150  pounds  of  butter  fat,  or  not  more  than  one-half  of 
what  it  might  be  if  well  known  facts  were  used  as  a  basis  for 
practice.  The  annual  loss  from  insects  to  "Wisconsin  farmers 
is  not  less  than  $5,000,000,  yet  much  of  this  may  be  saved 
through  the  use  of  proper  methods.  But  this  is  not  all.  To 
those  who  engage  in  farming,  agricultural  training  so  awakens 
the  intellect  to  the  various  processes  of  nature  involved  in  the 
occupation,  that  the  industry  itself  may  afford  the  keenest 
pleasure. 

It  will  be  admitted,  without  argument,  that  the  farmer  should 
be  trained  for  his  work,  but  is  his  education  to  be  limited  to  the 
needs  of  his  calling?  No  one  will  deny  that  every  man,  no 
matter  what  his  vocation,  should  be  informed  on  many  matters 
outside  his  own  calling,  and  that  his  training  should  put  him 
in  possession  of  information  that  he  seldom  if  ever  needs  to  use. 
Such  an  education '  is  the  right  of  every  Wisconsin  boy  and 
girl,  whether  the  lot  be  cast  in  city  or  country,  and  such  an  edu- 
cation the  schools  of  Wisconsin  should  furnish. 

The  ability  of  the  schools  to  impart  this  kind  of  an  education 
is  limited  in  several  ways,  but  their  opportunities,  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  are  well  nigh  unlimited.  At  the  present  time  it  ap- 
pears that  the  chief  problem  of  universal  education  in  this  state 
is  that  of  providing  adequate  vocational  training  and  at  the 
same  time  maintaining  the  proper  balance  between  these  sub- 
jects and  general  education. 

In  all  schools  the  local  needs  are  worth  considering  but  they 
should  not  be  the  only  factors.  The  general  needs,  the  need  of 
the  country  at  large,  the  need  of  the  times,  should  receive  full 
consideration.  Approximately  8%  of  our  population  are  busi- 
ness and  professional  men.  They  are  comparatively  well  pro- 
vided for.  The  other  92%.  belong  to  the  industrial  classes. 
One-half  of  these  are  -farmers,  the  other  half  artisans.  Our 
regular  day  schools  should  contain  courses  of  study  for  training 
farmers  along  broad  general  lines.  Nearly  all  of  our  girls  .be- 
come home  makers  and  this  training  should  also  be  provided  for 
by  courses  in  domestic  economy.  These  courses  should  not  be 
restricted  to  vocational  courses  designed  to  teach  simply  bread' 


116      REPORT  or  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOB  THE" 

making  or  steer-feeding,  but  siiould  give  a  broader  outlook  and 
a  range  of  vision  much  beyond  them. 

The  State  of  Wisconsin  has  already  provided  trade  schools  for 
farmers  in  the  form  of  county  schools  of  agriculture,  and  these 
afford  an  opportunity  for  those  whose  attention  has  been  di- 
rected to  country  life  to  get  much  valuable  training  that  bears 
directly  upon  the  vocation  of  farming;  but  the  state  has  not 
done  what  it  should  to  direct  attention  to  the  vocation  in  which 
one-half  her  population  are  directly  engaged  and  upon  which 
all  her  people  are  dependent  for  subsistence. 

To  those  who  have  carefully  studied  and  are  familiar  with 
the  existing  social  and  economic  circumstances  of  country  life, 
at  least  two  pressing  needs  must  be  met  before  the  children  of 
rural  communities  will  have  any  fair  opportunity  to  receive 
that  kind  and  amount  of  education,  to  which  all  children  in  the 
state  of  "Wisconsin  are  entitled;  and  before  the  conditions  and 
the  standards  of  life  of  that  great  proportion  of  our  population, 
directly  and  immediately  dependent  upon  a  proper  conserving 
and  developing  of  agricultural  resources  an4  interests,  may  be 
permanently  improved.  These  larger  and  more  fundamental 
needs  are  brought  forward  here  because  any  radical  betterment 
of  as  large  and  as  important  a  group  of  industries  as  exist  in 
the  state  are  dependent  upon  them.  Agriculture  is  primarily 
dependent  upon  the  raising  of  the  level  of  the  effectiveness  of 
all  those  grades  of  instruction  that  constitute  the  common  school. 
Indeed,  measures  will  need  to  be  devised  to  affect  directly  the 
industrial  efficiency  of  the  great  army  of  young  men  and  women 
who  must  look  to  the  rural  school  for  their  education  prepara- 
tory to  life. 


BETTER  TRAINED  TEACHERS 

First  of  all,  the  public  school  serving  the  people  of  any  agri- 
cultural region  must  be  in  charge  of  teachers  both  competent 
and  properly  trained  for  their  work;  that  is,  competent  and 
trained,  not  only  for  the  effective  conduct  of  ordinary  school 
instruction,  but  also  for  the  increase  of  the  industrial  efficiency 
of  all  the  pupils  whether  boys  or  girls.  That  this  is  now  the 
case,  except  in  rare  and  conspicuous  instances,  will  not  be 
claimed  by  any  one  having  a  reliable  knowledge  of  the  country 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTBIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.     117 

school  as  it  exists  generally  throughout  the  state.  The  disin- 
clination'of  rural  communities  to  make  any  effort  to  provide 
either  sufficient  financial  or  moral  support  of  the  school  as  it  is 
in  its  present  form,  and  the  relatively  small  proportion  of  the 
boys  and  girls  of  these  communities,  from  twelve  to  sixteen 
years  of  age,  in  these  schools,  are  striking  testimony  of  some 
great  lack.  That  lack,  in  a  word,  is  the  absence  of  instruction 
that  is  vitally  concerned  with  the  economic  welfare  of  the  agri- 
cultural class  as  a  group  or  as  individuals.  Such  instruction 
cannot  be  given  without  competent  instructors. 

In  1901,  the  legislature  added  Agriculture  to  the  list  of  sub- 
jects in  which  candidates  for  teacherr'  certificates  shouM  be  ex- 
amined ;  and  in  1905,  it  was  enacted  that  agriculture  should  be 
taught  in  every  district  school.  That  neither  of  these  measures 
has  as  yet  resulted  in  any  great  benefit  to  agricultural  education 
is  generally  recognized.  Nevertheless,  they  have  indirectly  ac- 
complished a  valuable  end  by  emphatically  calling  public  atten- 
tion to  the  need  of  vigorouly  attacking  the  problem.  AgricuL 
tural  instruction  will  never  be  satisfactory  in  the  common  or 
high  schools  of  Wisconsin  until  the  state  sets  about,  in  a  deter- 
mined and  conscious  manner,  fitly  to  prepare  teachers  for  this 
task.  Under  existing  conditions,  many  •  teachers  are  immature 
and  inexperienced,  and  the  requirements  for  legal  certification 
are  far  too  low.  The  enactment  of  the  legislature  of  1909 
(Chapter  378)  requiring  every  applicant  for  a  certificate  to 
have  attended  a  professional  school  for  teachers  for  at  least  six 
weeks,  is  one  which,  if  followed  by  enactments  establishing  ad- 
ditional requirements,  will  gradually  lead  to  improvement. 
But  the  process  may  not  be  delayed  without  great  loss. 

At  the  present  time,  out  of  785,000  persons  of  school  age 
(4  to  20),  there  are  approximately  475,000  pupils  enrolled  in 
the  public  schools  of  the  state.  Of  this  number,  at  least 
250,000  are  being  educated  through  the  schools,  which  should 
educate  chiefly  for  the  agricultural  industries.  In  all  proba- 
bility, at  least  50,000  more  pupils  should  be  in  these  schools. 
Of  the  total  number  of  public  school  teachers  in  the  state 
(15,000),  not  less  than  9,000  sh'ould  be  able  to  teach  effectively, 
from  the  agricultural  point  of  view.  Not  that  the  field  of 
activity  of  the  rural  schools  should  be . restricted  in  any  way; 
but  the  necessities  of  the  great  majority  of  the  pupils  should 
be  the  basis  for  the  organization  of  the  work  of  the  common 


118      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

+ 

schools  of  the  country.  This  is  not  the  case ;  neither  will  it  be, 
until  the  people  of  the  state  and  their  representatives  become 
alive  to  the  great  injustice  done  to  the  boys  and  girls,  who,  by 
circumstances,  must  obtain  practically  all  of  their  educaton  in 
these  schools.  The  great  question  of  vocational  education  is 
fully  as  important  to  the  country  as  to  the  city ;  as  important 
to  the  farm  as  to  the  facto'ry.  Effective  agricultural  education 
is  in  the  end  a  matter  of  finding  effective  agricultural  teachers. 

For  the  betterment  of  the  teaching  of  agricultural  science 
and  practice  in  the  common  schools,  the  resources  available  in 
all  the  state  institutions  for  the  training  of  teachers  will  need 
to  be  utilized  to  the  largest  extent.  The  county  training  schools 
for  teachers  have  proved  their  worth.  It  is  extremely  desirable 
that  the  standards  of  the  existing  schools  of  this  kind  be  gradu- 
ally raised  so  that  their  graduates  shall  have  a  longer  and 
sounder  training  than  is  possible  under  the  present  organiza- 
tion. The  question  of  ways  in  which  the  several  normal  schools 
of  the-state  may  be  enabled  to  contribute  to  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  agricultural  training  in  rural  schools  is  one  worthy 
of  careful  consideration.  When  the  issue  becomes  more  clearly 
defined,  undoubtedly  new  avenues  of  usefulness  will  be  discov- 
ered for  the  normal  school,  especially  in  the  direction  of  edu- 
cating and  training  teachers  for  vocational  work  in  the  state 
graded  schools. 

It  would  seem  that  the  largest  responsibility  rests  with  the 
university,  especially  with  the  college  of  agriculture,  for  pro- 
viding ways  and  means  for  the  training  of  special  teachers,  and 
supervisors  of  agriculture,  and  principals  and  superintendents 
of  schools  serving  an  agricultural  population.  No  other  insti- 
tution in  the  state  has,  or  can  have,  equal  facilities  and  men  for 
effective  instruction.  A  certain  proportion  ($5,000)  of  the  Fed- 
eral appropriation  to  the  agricultural  college  may,  under  the 
Nelson  amendment  of  1906,  be  devoted  to  the  training  of  teach- 
ers. The  establishment  of  the  department  of  agricultural 
education  in  the  college  of  agriculture,  in  1908,  markd  the 
beginning  of  a  new  and  positive  policy.  Through  this  depart- 
ment and  the  allied  departments  of  the  university  should  come 
those  men  who  are  to  be  the  leaders  and  the  pioneers  in  the 
establishment  of  successful  vocational  education  for  that  part 
of  the  people,  of  the  state  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL,  TRAINING.    119 

STATE  AID  FOR  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING 

A  new  policy  is  now  needed  whereby  special  subventions  of 
the  state  may  be  utilized  for  the  development  of  those  phases 
of  education  which  represent  the  more  pressing  needs  of  the 
day.  This  new  policy  should  be  directed  to  the  encouragement 
of  both  agricultural  and  industrial  training. 

One  conclusion  is  perfectly  clear,  namely,  that  carefully 
planned  agricultural  education,  adequately  subsidized  by  the 
state,  looking  toward  the  readjustment  of  existing  educational 
institutions  should  be  made. 

If  any  state-wide  plan  for  industrial  education  is  projected, — 
and  certainly  no  plan  can  be  state-wide  that  does  not  include 
adequate  provision  for  the  elementary  education  of  agricultural 
workers, — the  two  factors  considered  will  need  to  become  ob- 
jects of  legislative  attention;  (a)  Provision  for  better  facilities 
for  the  training  of  teachers  of  agriculture  and  of  supervisors  of 
agricultural  schools ;  (b)  The  enlargement  of  the  policy  of  ex- 
tending special  state  aid  to  schools  in  the  agricultural  sections 
so  that  state  aid  shall  be  granted  for  industrial  training  in  agri- 
culture. 

In  addition  to  these,  provision  must  be  made  for  increased 
compensation  of  teachers,  as  explained  in  Part  I,  and  the  vari- 
ous specific  steps  taken  which  are  considered  in  the  remainder 
of  the  report. 


THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  AGRICULTURAL 

TEACHING   AND    SUGGESTIONS    FOR 

FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT 

This  section  has  to  deal  with  the  part  that  the  various  classes 
of  schools  from  the  district  school  to  the  university  should  play 
in  the  development  of  rural  education.  Under  each  heading  is 
to  be  found  a  brief  analysis  of  the  facts  that  obtain  in  each  class 
of  schools,  with  suggestions  as  tp  the  possibilities  of  future  de- 
velopment, and  specific  recommendations  for  constructive  legis- 
lation. 

The  GOun/y  training  schools. — The  county  training  schools 
were  establshed  for  the  special  purpose  of  training  teach- 
ers for  the  rural  schools.  Twenty-four  of  these  schools 


120      REPORT  OF  THK  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

enrolling  1,500  students  and  costing  the  state  nearly  $100,000 
annually  are  now  in  operation.  While  these  schools  are 
doing  their  work  well  along  the  standard  lines,  like  all 
the  rest  of  our  schools,  they  have  not  yet  given  sufficient  at- 
tention to  the  subject  of  agriculture.  If  agriculture  is  to  be 
taught  in  our  rural  schools,  and  the  law  says  it  must  be  so 
taught ;  and  if  the  county  training  schools  are  to  train  teachers 
for  the  rural  schools,  then  it  is  clear  that  upon  the  training 
schools  rests  the  chief  responsibility  for  the  success  or  failure 
of  agricultural  instruction  in  the  rural  schools.  Some  of  the 
principals  of  the  training  schools  fully  recognize  this  responsi- 
bility and  are  extending  the  length  of  time  given  for  instruction 
in  agriculture  from  the  original  meager  ten  weeks  to  twenty, 
and  even  forty  weeks.  This  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  but 
cannot  yield  satisfactory  results  alone.  According  to  the  course 
of  study  in  use  in  most  of  these  schools  fifty  hours  are  given  to 
the  study  of  agriculture  or  one-thirty-second  part  of  the  entire 
time.  To  yoiir  commission  that  amount  of  preparation  appears 
wholly  inadequate,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  many  of 
these  prospective  teachers  are  city  and  village  girls  compara- 
tively ignorant  of  farm  conditions  and  rural  life. 

Your  commission  recommends  the  introduction  at  once  of  at 
least  one  unit  of  agriculture  into  the  courses  of  study  of  these 
schools.  Ultimately  two  units  of  agriculture  should  be  intro- 
duced. 

In  case  favorable  action  is  taken  on  the  matter  of  special 
agricultural  instructors  mentioned  in  another  section  of  this 
report  (see  p.  12),  these  may  be  placed  with  the  county  training 
schools  by  co-operative  arrangement  with  the  College  of  Agri- 
culture. These  specialists  may  give  the  instruction  in  agricul- 
ture to  teachers'  training  classes  and  organize  short  course 
classes  for  winter  students,  for  which  service,  the  county  should 
share  such  proportion  of  the  expense  as  may  be  determined  by 
mutual  agreement.  This  plan  of  utilizing  a' portion  of  the  time 
of  the  proposed  agricultural  specialists  receives  the  unqualified 
endorsement  of  your  commission :  but  if  this  is  done  it  will  be 
only  the  first  step  toward  adequate  instruction  in  agriculture 
in  the  county  training  schools.  As  soon  as  they  can  be  ob- 
tained, at  least"  one  teacher  in  each  of  these  schools,  should  be 
specially  prepared  to  teach  the  agricultural  subjects. 


JEXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.      121 

The  rural  schools. — There  are  about  9,000  rural  schools 
in  the  state  which  should  serve  approximately  300,000  boys 
and  girls,  since  there  are  not  less  than  this  number 
between  the  -ages  of  4  and  20  in  their  tributary  area. 
A  few  rural  teachers  have  grasped  the  true  spirit  of 
the  situation  and,  under  favorable  conditions,  are  doing 
creditable  work  in  agriculture,  as  provided  by  the  law ;  but 
the  three  chief  defects  of  the  rural  schools  are  the  small  school, 
a  lack  of  efficient  preparation  of  teachers,  and  a  lack  of  organ- 
ization of  suitable  material  for  instructional  purposes.  The  last 
of  these  defects  the  college  of  agriculture  has  made  an  effort 
to  correct.  During  the  past  two  years  it  has  prepared  and  sent 
to  one-fourth  of  the  rural  schools  several  economic  nature  study 
circulars  on  special  phases  of  agriculture,  deemed  of  vital  im- 
portance to  the  farmers  of  this  state,  and  along  the  same  lines 
in  which  the  station  is  directing  its  teaching  and  its  extension 
work. 

Given  a  body  of  teachers  with  the  right  perspective,  in  full 
sympathy  with  agricultural  education,  and  with  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  pupils,  the  rural  schools  may  readily  become  potent  fac- 
tors toward  the  general  practice  of  scientific  agriculture.  At 
the  same  time  they  may  draw  much  of  their  material  for  their 
instructional  purposes  from  the  world  about  them,  create  a  love 
for  farm  life,  and  add  dignity  to  its  labor  that  will  tend  to 
check  the  tide  of  emigration  now  flowing  toward  the  cities.  At 
present  the  great  majority  of  the  teachers  are  women,  brought 
up  in  the  city,  unacquainted  with  farm  life,  and  much  of  their 
agricultural  teaching  has  little  weight. 

The  rural  schools  need  a  competent  body  of  young  men, 
brought  up  on  the  farm,  trained  in  agricultural  schools,  and 
experienced  as  teachers.  With  state  aid  sufficient  to  encourage 
the  payment  of  adequate  salaries  for  efficient  workers,  these 
schools  would  reach  300,000  young  people  annually,  and  come 
in  close  personal  contact  with  not  less  than  50,000  farmers,  or 
one-fourth  the  entire  number  in  the  state. 

Fully  one-half  of  the  pupils  in  these  schools  are  girls  and 
their  needs  should  be  supplied  by  providing  instruction  in 

domestic  science  as  effective  as  that  asked  for  agriculture. 

i 

The  consolidated  country  schools. — When  two  or  more  dis- 
trict schools  are  united  in  a  single  unit  for  school  purposes, 
the  resulting  unit  is  known  as  a  consolidated  school.  To  such 


122      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR 

a  school  the  distant  pupils  are  usually  transported  at  public 
expense. 

The  larger  country  school  house  represents  the  chief  need  for 
the  reform  of  rural  education.  The  isolated,  one  room  country 
school  is  bound,  under  the  necessities  of  modern  rural  life,  to 
pass  away;  but  its  passing  will  be  a  slow  process.  The  move- 
ment for  the  consolidation  of  school  districts,  and  the  transpor- 
tation of  pupils  to  the  large  school  is  on,  the  country  over.  The 
advantages  of  a  consolidated  school  have  been  demonstrated  in 
too  many  states  and  under  too  many  conditions  to  be  open  to 
debate.  From  the  standpoint  of  administration,  finance,  gen- 
eral education,  and  agricultural  training,  this  enlarged  school 
shows  the  way  out  of  many  of  the  present  difficulties.  It  makes 
possible  the  construction  of  artistic  modern  buildings,  properly 
heated,  ventilated,  lighted,  equipped,  adequately  provided  with 
sanitary  arrangements,  clean  drinking  water,  etc. ;  in  fact,  just 
the  necessities  of  the  modern  school  which  the  one-room  district 
school  does  not  have,  and  never  has  had.  More  important  than 
these  obvious  advantages,  the  consolidated  school  provides  for 
overcoming  the  inherent  difficulty  of  the  rural  school,  namely, 
the  attempt  to  instruct  by  one  teacher,  6  to  16-year-old  pupils. 
Three  generations  ago,  the  city  learned  that  it  could  edu- 
cate its  children  more  successfully  and  more  economiaclly  by 
placing  those  of  the  same  ability  and  near  the  same  age  to- 
gether, with  teachers  who  understood  and  could  teach  them  as  a 
group.  The  country  has  expected  of  its  teachers,  generally  far 
less  capable  than  the  teachers  in  the  city,  the  impossible  task  of 
satisfactorily  teaching  children  of  wide  range  of  age  and  ability. 

It  may  be  stated,  that,  until  the  state  of  "Wisconsin  sets  itself 
deliberately  to  the  task  of  organizing  country  education  on  the 
basis  of  an  administrative  unit,  larger  than  the  school  district, 
as  it  now  exists,  comparatively  little  will  be  accomplished  in 
the  way  of  establishing  vocational  training  that  will  contribute 
largely  to  the  problems  of  our  agricultural  population  and  of 
agricultural  production.  Notwithstanding  numerous  enactments 
of  the  legislature  during  the  past  ten  years,  looking  toward  the 
consolidation  of  schools,  little  or  nothing  has  yet  been  accom- 
plished in  this  state  in  this  direction.  Without  doubt,  climatic 
conditions  and  geographic  situations  have  hindered  the  rapid 
progress  of  this  movement.  Nevertheless,  there  are  numerous 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.    123 

localities  where   no    physical   obstacles   bar   consolidation,  and 
where  the  district  schools  are  too  small  to  be  effective. 

Geo.  W.  Knorr,  Special  Field  Agent  of  the  bureau  of  sta- 
tistics, Washington,  D  .C.,  makes  out  a  strong  case  for  the  con- 
solidated school  in  Bulletin  No.  232,  office  of  experiment  sta- 
tions. Statistical  data  collected  by  him  show  (a)  that  the  per 
capita  cost  of  instruction  is  lessened  though  the  total  cost  is  usu- 
ally increased,  (b)  that  the  average  daily  attendance  is  in- 
creased, (c)  that  the  pupils  remain  in  school  longer,  (more 
years  and  more  days  in  each  year),  (d)  that  the  recitation  time 
is  increased  and  the  study  period  diminished,  (e)  that  better 
wages  are  paid  and  hence  better  teachers  employed,  (f)  that 
these  schools  are  better  supervised,  both  by  the  principal  and 
by  the  county  superintendent,  and  (g)  that  better  material 
equipment  is  provided  (buildings,  libraries,  heating  and  sanita- 
tion). 

•  Mr.  Knorr  has  further  shown  that  consolidation  has  been 
more  easily  effected  when  the  county  or  township  is  the  unit  of 
school  administration  as  in  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  that  great 
difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  effecting  consolidation  where 
the  district  system  prevails.  The  reason  is  obvious, — it  is  far 
easier  to  obtain  a  majority  in  favor  of  consolidation  in  a  single 
unit  than  it  is  to  obtain  a  majority  on  the  same  side  of  the  ques- 
tion in  several  units. 

He  further  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  inevitable  ten- 
dency, where  the  district  unit  prevails,  is  to  get  the  consolidated 
unit  too  small,  a  decided  menace  to  the  whole  cause  of  consolida- 
tion. Again,  topographical  conditions  may  seriously  interfere. 
There  are  several  other  factors  not  mentioned  in  the  report 
quoted  above  that  bear  upon  the  Wisconsin  situation  and  which 
should  be  mentioned  here.  One  of  these  is  found  in  the  mixed 
nationality  of  our  citizenship,  and  the  tendency  of  these  na- 
tionalities to  remain  distinct  in  their  own  settlements.  As  yet 
the  foreign  spirit  is  so  strong  that  these  colonies  do  not  readily 
"fuse"  as  is  necessary  in  consolidation. 

All  these  facts  are  worthy  of  the  careful  consideration  of 
the  legislature.  Nevertheless  ihere  are  in  Wisconsin  a  large 
number  of  rural  schools  with  less  than  ten  pupils  each.  In 
these  schools  no  inspiring  work  in  agriculture  or  any  other  sub- 
ject can  be  done,  as  the  classes  are  too  small.  The  per  capita 
cost  of  instruction  sometimes  reaches  $200  per  year.  The  aver- 


124      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE" 

age  cost  of  instruction  for  these  small  (less  than  ten  pupil) 
schools  (in  the  state  of  Minnesota)  is  $56.49  per  pupil,  an 
amount  entirely  too  high  when  compared  with  $11.11  for  the 
whole  state  of  Wisconsin.  There  ought  to  be  some  way  devised 
for  discontinuing  these  small  schools  and  substituting  more  ef- 
ficient schools. 

It  follows  from  the  above  that  the  first  step  necessary  for  the 
solution  of  the  difficulties  inherent  in  the  district  school  system 
is  to  create  a  central  board  of  education  for  each  county  with 
power  to  enforce  the  necessary  consolidations,  and  in  other  ways 
exercise  such  a  degree  of  administrative  control  over  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  county  (outside  of  cities)  as  will  ensure  ade- 
quate educational  privileges  for  all  the  children  of  the  county. 
Bills  to  accomplish  this  ref oi|m  have  been  presented  to  the  legis- 
lature of  the  state  on  several  recent  occasions  without  favorable 
consideration.  Your  commission  is  of  the  judgment,  however, 
that  the  general  condition  of  public  education  of  the  agricul- 
tural portion  of  our  people  fully  warrants  a  marked  change  of 
policy,  which  cannot  be  effected  under  the  existing  school  dis- 
trict or  township  system. 

Your  commission  therefore  recommends  that  a  central  board 
of  education,  composed  of  five  members  elected  at  large,  be 
created  for  each  county ;  this  board  to  have  power  in  particular, 
(1)  to  employ  a  county  superintendent  of  schools;  (2)  to  con- 
solidate school  districts  and  discontinue  schools  when  such  will 
contribute  to  the  betterment  of  education  of  the  children;  that 
such  consolidated  schools  receive  state  aid  equal  to  that  granted 
to  state  graded  schools,  viz. :  $200  for  a  two-department  school 
and  $300  for  a  three-department  school  and  that  addtional  state 
aid  to  an  equal  amount  be  granted  to  those  schools  which  in- 
troduce not  less  than  two  units  of  agriculture,  or  agriculture 
and  domestic  economy,  provided  that  the  courses  of  study  and 
the  teachers  be  approved  by  the  State  Superintendent. 

The  state  graded  schools. — There  are  in  this  state  at 
present  497  public  rural  schools  designated  as  state  graded 
schools.  The  schools  enroll  annually  over  45,000  pupils, 
and  receive  from  the  state  $118,500  special  financial  aid. 
They  generally  are  located  in  small  villages  and  about 
100  of  them  are  doing  two  years  of  high  school  work. 
Probably  another  hundred  are  schools  of  nine  grades  each.  It 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.     125 

would  seem  from  their  location  and  the  class  of  people  whom 
they  serve  that  they  are  particularly  adapted  to  giving  instruc- 
tion in  agriculture.  Wherever  the  principal  of  these  schools 
has  made  special  preparation  or  is  possessed  of  large  energy 
coupled  with  native  ability,  the  work  done  in  these  schools  is 
highly  commendable.  But  as  yet  they  have  not  begun  to  real- 
ize their  possibilities.  In  most  of  these  schools  the  work  in  agri- 
culture is  confined  to  one-half  year  of  formal  text  book  study. 
These  schools  might  well  administer  a  course  offering  two  years 
of  agricutlural  work,  much  of  which  could  be  of  an  intensely 
practical  nature.  At  the  present  time  the  law  provides  that  a 
state  graded  school  of  two  departments,  having  two  teachers, 
if  it  complies  with  the  provision  of  the  state  graded  school  law, 
may  obtain  $200  special  state  aid  each  year  and  that  a  school  of 
three  departments  may  obtain  special  state  aid  to  the  amount  of 
$300  per  year. 

Your  commission  recommends  that  additional  state  aid,  equaJ 
to  that  now  received,  be  granted  to  such  graded  schools  as  intro- 
duce not  less  than  two  units  of  agriculture,  or  agriculture  and 
domestic  economy,  provided  that  the  course  of  study  and  the 
teachers  be  approved  by  the  State  Superintendent. 

The  township  high  scbjols. — For  the  township  high  schools 
the  township  is  ordinarily  the  unit  of  organization,  but 
contiguous  territories  in  two  or  more  townships  may  unite 
to  form  a  township  high  school.  Theoretically  there  is 
no  instruction  in  elementary  school  subjects  connected  here- 
with. The  biennial  report  of  the  State  Superintendent 
for  1906-1908  has  this  to  say  of  township  high  schools:— 
*"The  total  enrollment  for  1907  was  1184,  or  an  aver- 
age of  43  to  each  school.  It  should  be  remembered  that  all 
except  a  very  few  of  these  schools  are  located  in  small  villages 
and  the  enrollment  is  made  up  mainly  from  the  country  dis- 
tricts, and  fully  equal  in  natural  ability  to  town  pupils."  And 
again  many  of  the  schools  are  not  equipped  and  provided  for 
as  well  as  might  be  desired,  but,  nevertheless,  much  excellent 
work  is  being  done  in  them  an'd  this  should  be  recognized  in 
every  possible  way." 


*  See  page  24,  Thirteenth  Biennial  Report  Department  of  Public 
Instruction,  State  of  Wisconsin, 


126      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

"  Their  greatest  handicap  arises  from  too  frequent  changes 
in  the  teaching  force.  First  class  teachers  can  not  be  retained 
at  the  low  salaries  which  many  boards  set  as  their  limit,  and  the 
result  is  that  these  schools  are  too  often  material  for  new  and 
inexperienced  teachers  to  practice  upon  to  prepare  themselves 
for  larger  places." 

This  report  fully  sets  forth  the  present  status  of  these  schools. 
Hknvever,  nothing  is  said  about  the  teaching  of  agriculture  in 
these  schools,  probably  because  so  little  has  been  accomplished. 
It  is  the  opinion  of  your  commission  that  the  township  high 
school  affords  a  particularly  favorable  opportunity  for  the  suc- 
cessful teaching  of  agriculture.  Its  tributary  area  is  normally 
but  six  miles  square.  Its  pupils  are  all  within  easy  driving 
distance  from  home,  and  they  are  sufficiently  mature  to  do  this 
work  understandingly  and  well.  Those  who  complete  the  course 
of  study  are  in  continuous  attendance  throughout  a  period  of 
four  years;  they  are  in  first  hand  daily  touch  with  farm  li^e, 
and  have  constant  opportunity  to  put  into  practice  at  home  the 
interesting  lessons  that  they  learn  at  school.  If  secondary  agri- 
cultural education  is  to  be  of  real  significance  to  the  farmers, 
they  must  come  to  realize  its  importance  and  take  a  deeper  and 
more  active  interest  in  their  township  high  schools. 

The  state  superintendent  in  the  report  quoted  above  has 
called  attention  to  the  vital  defects  in  these  schools  so  far  as  it 
applies  to  agriculture,  which  have  inadequate  equipment,  ineffi- 
cient and  immature  teachers.  If  the  state  will  grant  special  aid 
to  encourage  the  teaching  of  agriculture  in  these  schools,  and 
at  the  same  time  provide  for  the  training  of  mature,  efficient 
teachers,  capable  of  leading  farmers  as  well  as  their  children,  it 
appears  to  your  commission  that  these  schools  may  become  po- 
tent factors  in  demonstrating  the  possibility  and  practicability 
of  agricultural  teaching  in  rural  high  schools. 

The  township  high  school  law  provides  that  township  high 
schools  may  receive  state  aid  for  the  salaries  of  teachers  to  an 
amount  equivalent  to  that  paid  by  the  townships,  limiting,  how- 
ever, the  amount  which  may  be  paid  to  a  school  having  in  addi- 
tion to  a  principal  one  assistant,  not  to  exceed  $900,  two  assist- 
ants not  to  exceed  $1,200,  and  three  or  more  assistants  not  to 
exceed  $1,500,  and  with  the  further  limitation  that  the  total  to 
the  township  high  schools  shall  not  exceed  $50,000.  Your  com- 
mission recommends  that  additional  state  aid  equivalent  to  that 


EXTENSION  OP  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL,  TRAINING.    127 

granted  for  manual  training,  $250  per  annum  be  granted  to 
township  high  schools  after  having  introduced  courses  contain- 
ing not  less  than  two  units  of  agriculture,  or  agriculture  and 
domestic  economy,  provided  that  the  courses  of  study  and  the 
teachers  are  approved  by  the  state  superintendent. 

The  village  and  city  high  schools. — Over  thirty  thousand 
pupils  are  enrolled  in  the  village  and  city  high  schools.  The 
state  contributes  $125,000  annually  to  their  support.  Twenty- 
eight  of  these  offer  courses  in  manual  training  and  domestic 
science,  to  which  the  state  makes  a  second  contribution  of 
$8,100. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  our  high  schools 
are  educating  away  from  industrial  pursuits.  As  yet  little  has 
been  done  with  agriculture  in  "Wisconsin  as  a  high  school  study 
though  twenty-eight  schools  are  now  receiving  state  aid  for  man- 
ual training.  The  reason  for  this  lack  of  interest  in  agricultural 
teaching  lies  in  the  fact  that  agriculture  has  not  received  proper 
recognition  as  a  means  of  education.  Few  persons  have  pre- 
pared themselves  for  teachers  of  this  branch  because  there 
seemed  to  be  litle  demand  for  such  teaching;  and  partly  in 
consequence  few  high  schools  have  attempted  to  give  much  in- 
struction in  agriculture  for  lack  of  adequate  teaching  force. 
Many  educators  have  small  faith  in  the  ultimate  success  of  this 
work.  The  state  gives  .no  financial  encouragement  to  agricul- 
tural teaching  in  high  schools.  Further  it  is  argued  by  some 
that  agricultural  education  is  sufficiently  cared  for  in  our  county 
schools  of  agriculture  and  that  the  introduction  of  agriculture 
in  the  high  schools  will  destroy  these  special  schools. 

Those  who  favor  agriculture  in  the  high  school,  especially  the 
rural  high'  school,  call  attention  to  the  following  facts : — 

1.  In  these  schools  the  student  body  already  in  attendance  is 
recruited  largely  from  the  neighboring  farms. 

2.  Their  courses  of  study  may  be  easily  modified  to  include 
practical  instruction  in   agriculture.     Such   courses,  especially 
those  that  are  four  years  in  length,  admit  of  a  broad  general 
training  as  well  as  considerable'  work  along  narrower  vocational 
lines. 

3.  The  laboratories  and  equipment  of  these  schools  need  but 
slight  modification  and  but  little  inexpensive  additional  equip- 
ment to *be  easily  adapted  to  this  work. 


128      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON*  PLANS  FOR  THE 

4.  Agricultural  courses  of  study  may  be  easily  and  economic- 
ally administered  in  these  schools. 

5.  Most  states  are  encouraging  the  introduction  of  agriculture 
into  the  secondary  schools. 

6.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  men  who  have  given 
thought  to  this  subject  that  agriculture    can    be    successfully 
taught  in  the  city  high  school. 

7.  High  schools  can  not  do  the  work  now  done  by  the  special 
schools  because  they  do  not  serve  the  same  class  of  students. 
Hence  they  will  neither  injure  nor  supplant  the  special  schools, 
but  by  encouraging  a  wider  sentiment  for  agricultural  educa- 
tion, will  give  added  impetus  to  the  work  of  such  schools. 

These  special  schools  will  not  reach  their  limit  of  efficiency  un- 
til the  high  schools  create  a  sentiment  that  will  turn  a  stream  of 
boys  arid  girls  in  their  direction,  there  to  receive  the  finishing 
touches  of  an  agricultural  education,  exactly  as  they  are  now 
doing  for  the  normal  schools  and  business  colleges. 

Minnesota  has  recognized  the  importance  of  agriculture  as  a 
means  of  high  school  education  and  now  gives  $2,500  annually 
to  each  of  ten  schools  offering  instruction  in  this  Branch,  and 
mechanic  and  domestic  art.  So  successful  has  been  this  experi- 
ment that  in  all  probability  the  number  will  be  greatly  increased 
at  the  coming  session  of  the  legislature.  "Wisconsin  may  well 
consider  the  wisdom  of  enacting  a  similar  law. 

Your  commission  recommends  that  state  aid  equal  in  amount 
to  that  now  granted  for  manual  training,  $250,  per  annum,  be 
granted  to  village  and  city  high  schools  that  introduce  not  less 
than  two  units  of  agriculture  or  agriculture  and  domestic  econ- 
omy provided  that  the  courses  of  study  in  agriculture  and  do- 
mestic economy  and  -the  teachers  in  the  same  be  approved  by  the 
state  superintendent. 

The  county  schools  of  agriculture  and  domestic  economy.— 
Ten  county  schools  of  agriculture  and  domestic  economy  .may 
be  established  under  the  present  law.  Five  are. now  in  actual 
operation.  A  sixth  has  been  voted  by  the  county  board  of  Mil- 
waukee county.  Though  there  is  agitation  for  the  establish- 
ment of  these  schools  in  several  other  counties,  it  is  probable 
that  the  number  possible  under  the  present  law  will  suffice  until 
the  next  meeting  of  the  legislature.  These  are  essentially  trade 
schools  .an.d  should  alwayg  be  maintained  as  such. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.     129 

Besides  supplying  the  real  needs  of  agricultural  instruction 
in  their  counties,  these  schools  serve  a  class  of  people  the  coun- 
try and  high  schools  fail  to  reach ;  they  carry  on  their  own  lines- 
of  field  work  among  farmers;  they  organize  cow-testing  and 
grain-growing  associations;  they  furnish  assistance  in  planning1 
and  erecting  farm  buildings;  they  hold  farmers'  meetings;  they 
are  the  logical  centers  from  which  the  agricultural  field  work 
service,  carried  on  by  the  state  college  of  agriculture,  radiates. 
Their  value  has  been  clearly  and  unquestionably  demonstrated 
and  the  state  should  encourage  them  in  every  possible  way.  By 
some  it  is  feared  that  the  introduction  of  agriculture  into  the 
high  schools  of  the  state  will  injure  these  special  county  schools. 
But  your  commission  wishes  to  suggest  that  the  introduction  of 
agriculture  into  the  high  schools  will  give  the  county  schools  of 
agriculture  an  opportunity  for  development  and  specialization 
otherwise  unattainable.  Past  experience  demonstrates  that 
these  schools  reach  their  greatest  efficiency  when  they  develop 
along  departmental  lines,  with  a  trained  specialist  in  charge  of 
each  department.  Their  teaching  equipment  involves  as  a  min- 
imum, a  teacher  in  agriculture,  one  in  manual  arts,  and  one  in 
domestic  science.  Into  such  trade  schools  many  high  school 
students  will  inevitably  drift  when  their  attention  has  been 
called  through  their  high  school  instruction  to  the  business  of 
agriculture. 

The  following  table  may  shed  some  light  on  the  necessity  for 
modifying  our  method  for  the  distribution  of  state  aid  to  fnese 
schools : 

COUNTY    SCHOOLS    OF    AGRICULTURE    STATISTICS. 


Total 
County.                      Assessed 
'  Valuation. 

« 

Cost  of 
Building 
Estimated. 

Total  cost 
Maintain- 
ance. 

Cost  to 
'County. 

* 
Valuation 
per  $1.00 
cost. 

Dunn    $22,472,000 

Jt. 

$vO,000 

$10,423  70 

$6,423  70 

$3,500 

Marinettc     .                                    1  26  049  000 

Jt. 

<?o  ooo 

7  156  00 

..- 
3  156  CO 

8  400 

1 
Marathon                                        •'  45  £&£  000 

Jt. 
°0  000 

5  933  95 

1  975  00 

23  100 

La    Crossc  [  41,082,000 
Winnebago                                      I  67  715  000 

f  0,000 
40  000 

14,281  02 
7  044  £6 

10,281  02 
3  041  5i 

-4,000 
22  240 

1       ' 

*  For  purpose  of  easy  comparison,  figures,  are  given  in  round  numbers. 

0 


130      KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 


County 

|     Pupils 
Enrolled. 

*Cost 
Pupil 
Total. 

*Cost  to 
Scaieper 
Pupil. 

*Cost  to 
County 
per  Pupil. 

Valuation 
per  $1  cost 
to  State. 

t)unn 

93 

$112  00 

$43  00 

$69  00     i 

$>     «10 

ilarinette 

40 

179  00 

ico  o;> 

7  *  00     I 

Marathon       

lit  « 

121  00 

81  CO 

40  00     I 

11  4'^3 

La  Crosse 

.i          157 

91  00 

•?6  CO 

65  CO    '' 

10  '?70 

Winnebago 

78 

91  00 

52  00 

39  00 

-Ifi     COO 

..., 

i 

The  county  agricultural  schools  now  receive  not  to  exceed 
two-thirds  of  their  cost  of  maintenance  from  the  state,  provided 
such  sum  does  not  exceed  $4,000  annually.  From  the  table 
given  it  is  apparent  that  those  schools  which  are  making  the 
strongest  impression  on  their  communities  are  spending  much 
more  than  $6,000  a  year.  It  seems  highly  probable  that  the 
matter  of  state  aid  to  these  schools  might  with  advantage  be 
changed  from  the  proportion  which  now  obtains  and  the  maxi- 
.  mum  amount  of  state  aid  be  considerably  increased.  The  fact 
that  these  schools  have  no  organic  relation  to  the  rest  of  the 
school  system  may  well  be  considered.  A  continuation  course 
at  the  agricultural  college  would'  afford  an  opportunity  for  the 
graduates  of  these  schools  to  get  a  broader  outlook,  furnish  an 
incentive  for  them  to  graduate  at  the  home  institution,  and  give 
these  schools  a  place  in  our  system  of  public  education. 

Your  commission  therefore  recommends  that  the  University 
of  Wisconsin  establish  in  the  college  of  agriculture  a  "con- 
tinuation course"  for  graduates  of  county  agricultural  schools 
to  which  its  short  course  graduates  may  also  be  admitted. 

Your  commission  further  recommends  that  the  present  law 
pertaining  to  state  aid  for  county  agricultural  schools  be 
amended  so  as  to  change  the  limit  which  may  be  paid  by  the 
state  to  any  one  school  from  $4,000  to  $6,000 ;  but  with  the  pro- 
vision that  if  more  than  $4,000  be  paid  by  the  state  that  the 
county  shall  contribute  not  less  than  an  equal  amount. 

The  University. — Agricultural  instruction  in  the  univer- 
sity began  in  1876.  At  that  time  the  four-year  long  course 
was  organized.  This  course  was  based  on  the  same  en- 
trance requirements  as  all  other  courses  of  the  univer- 


For  purpose  of  easy  comparison  figures  are  given  in  round  numbers. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.     131 

sity;  it  included  two  years  of  work  in  liberal  arts  as  a 
foundation  to  the  technical  work  in  agriculture  which  fol- 
lowed in  the  junior'  and  senior  years.  This  course,  when  organ- 
ized, was  ahead  of  the  demands  of  the  time,  as  but  few  students 
or  parents  realized  the  necessity  for  formal  instruction  of  this 
type.  The  failure  to  reach  the  farm  boy  through  the  medium 
of  the  long  course  led  in  1885  to  the  establishment  of  the  so- 
called  short  course.  No  stringent  entrance  requirements  were 
exacted.  Taking  the  boy  as  he  came  from  the  country  school, 
and  with  considerable  experience  already  in  farm  practice,  this 
course  has  been  kept  upon  a  practical  basis  and  amounted  to  a 
continuation  school,  although  not  known  under  that  name.  The 
success  attendant  upon  this  educational  experiment  (for  this 
course  was  the  first  to  break  over  the  traditional  boundaries  of 
agricultural  education  in  the  land  grant  colleges)  was  not  as- 
sured from  the  beginning,  and  it  was  only  after  the  most  per- 
sistent effort  that  the  course  began  to  grow  in  the  estimation  of 
the  farmers  of  the  state. 

In  1890  a  similar  type  of  practical  work  was  started  for  the 
training  of  creamery  and  cheese  factory  operators.  The  discov- 
ery oi^the  Babcock  test  and  its  application  to  factory  dairying 
made  possible  the  development  of  instruction  in  this  line,  and 
the  dairy  course  of  12  weeks  held  in  the  winter  has  been 
crowded  ever  since  its  inception. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  at  present  nearly  all  agricultural  col- 
leges have  adopted  the  short  course  idea  in  some  form  or  other. 
The  increase  of  students  in  the  short  course  work  has  now  be- 
come so  great  PS  to  tax  the  resources  of  the  university.  The 
grade  of  students  attending  this  work  has  greatly  improved 
within  recent  years.  In  1909,  two  college  or  university  gradu- 
ates, and  forty-two  high  school  graduates  were  in  attendance  on 
this  course.  Seventy-seven  students  out  of  460  had  had  a  year 
or  more  high  school  work.  This  short  course  work  has  exerted 
a  more  powerful  effect  on  the  state  than  any  other  line  of  agri- 
cultural educational  work  which  has  been  done  by  the  Univer- 
sity. It  is  important  to  note  in  a  recent  census  made  of  its 
graduates  that  91  per  cent  were  engaged  in  some  form  of  agri- 
cultural work,  and  that  80  per  cent  were  to  be  found  on  Wis- 
consin farms. 

The  increased  attention  given  to  agriculture  within  the  last 
decade  has  greatly  stimulated  interest  in  regular  university 


J32      KEPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

work  in  agriculture,  the  graduates  finding  in  practical,  scienti- 
fic, and  teaching  work,  a  wide,  rapidly  developing  field  for  their 
efforts. 

In  1908,  a  two  year  "middle  course"  wras  organized  with  the 
same  entrance  qualifications  as  for  the  long  course  (four  years 
of  high  school  work),  in  which  are  given  substantially  the  first 
two  years  of  the  long  course  with  the  subsitution  of  more 
practical  agricultural  work  for  German  and  mathematics. 

With  the  several  types  of  courses  offered  the  needs  of  prac- 
tically all  students  are  here  considered.  The  short  course  takes 
the  boy  from  the  farm  directly  and  on  a  country  school  founda- 
tion (or  higher),  gives  him  an  opportunity  to  continue  his  train- 
ing along  vocational  lines.  The  dairy  course  is  essentially  a 
trade  school  for  the  dairy  factory  operator.  The  middle  course 
is  designed  for  the  high  school  graduate  of  the  smaller  town  or 
rural  high  school  who  is  unlikely  to  finish  the  four  year  course 
of  university  training,  and  who  expects  to  return  to  a  farm 
occupation.  The  long  course  offers  the  best  training  in  the 
various  phases  of  agricultural  endeavor.  "While  many  of  its 
graduates  are  returning  to  the  farms  as  practical  operators, 
managers  or  superintendents,  others  are  going  into  experiment 
station  work,  college  positions,  teachers  of  agriculture  in  sec- 
ondary and  high  schools,  and  into  agricultural  journalism. 
These  higher  courses  are  already  closely  articulated  with  the 
public  school  system  of  the  state.  Doubtless  with  the  introduc- 
tion of  agriculture  in  the  high  school  curriculum,  the  relation  of 
the  college  to  the  high  school  will  become  more  intimate.  The 
short  course  is  not  articulated  at  present  with,  any  portion  of 
the  secondary  school  system.  Its  work  is  most  nearly  allied  to 
that  of  the  county  agricultural  school,  and  in  the  evolution  of 
agricultural  training,  it  is  entirely  possible  that  the  further  de- 
velopment of  these  schools  may  diminish  the  necessity  for  con- 
tinued emphasis  of  this  line  of  instruction,  although  from 
present  appearances,  such  a  condition  is  not  likely  to  obtain  for 
some  years  to  come.  It  would  be  easily  possible  to  correlate  a 
type  of  work  that  could  be  given  in  the  short  course  so  as  to 
extend  the  work  of  the  county  agricultural  school  by  an  addi- 
tional winter's  work  at  the  university,  as  has  been  previously 
recommended.  Such  a  mode  of  procedure  would  be  helpful  in 
aiding  these  special  schools  of  agriculture  in  the  development 
of  their  work. 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.     133 

The  university  has  long  recognized  its  obligation  to  the  farm- 
ers of  the  state,  and  has  for  years  given  largely  of  its  resources 
in  time  and  energy  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  agriculture  of  the 
state.  Long  before  the  idea  of  field  work  had  gained  the  ground 
which  it  now  occupies  as  in  integral  part  of  the  work  of  the  agri- 
cultural college,  many  lines  of  activities  were  under  way  in 
which  direct  help  was  given  to  the  person  in  need  of  such  aid. 

Beginning  with  the  organization  of  the  farmers'  institutes 
movement  in  1885,  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  ana 
twenty  meetings 'have  been  held  annually  in  the  winter  for  one 
or  two  days,  the  circuit  closing  with  a  three  day  convention 
known  as  the  round-up  institute.  The  talks  and  addresses  here 
presented  are  incorporated  in  a  farmers'  intitute  bulletin  of 
two  hundred  or  more  pages,  and  distributed  the  following  sea- 
sen  in  an  edition  of  50,000  to  60,000  copies.  This  work  has  been 
'closely  affiliated  with  the  agricultural  college. 

In  1908  the  agricultural  field  work  service  of  the  college 
proper  was  organized,  the  work  being-  divided  into  two  general 
lines:  (1)  Demonstration  field  work  of  various  kinds  carried 
on  during  summer  conditions  where  the  farmers  can  be  brought 
in  direct  contact  with  the  actual  necessary  operations  and  see 
just  how  they  were  carried  out.  (2)  Lecture  and  demonstra- 
tion courses  held  during  the  winter.  These  courses  known  as 
Ff-.rmerx'  Cow^sc  are  held  at  the  University,  the  county  agricul- 
tural schools  and  other  selected  points.  They  range  from  five 
to  ten  days  in  length  and  consist  of  lectures,  demonstrations  and 
practical  exercises  given  by  a  corps  of  ten  to  fifteen  of  the  agri- 
cultural college  staff.  These  meetings  supplement  the  farmers' 
institute,  covering  a  much  wider  field  and  emphasizing  the  dem- 
onstrational  features  as  much  as  possible.  The  close  co-opera- 
tion with  the  county  agricultural  schools  has  aided  greatly  in- 
the  development  of  this  work.  Through  the  medium  of  the  local 
school,  the  work  of  the  farmers '  courses  can  be  most  effectively 
advertised,  while  at  the  same  time  the  local  school  is  always 
available  as  a  center  of  crystallizing  into  effectiveness  the  prac- 
tice recommended. 

A  most  valuable  phase  of  field  work  has  also  been  developed 
in  the  Farmers'  School  which  is  a  more  intensive  development 
of  the  farmers'  idea.  In  this  type  of  work  the  subjects  consid- 
ered are  restricted  to  not  more  than  two  definite  lines,  as  live 
stock,  farm  crops,  soil  problems,  etc.,  and  specific  class  room 


134      REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSION  UPON  PLANS  FOR  THE 

instruction  for  six  hours  daily  is  given,  attendance  upon  the- 
same  being  required  by  previous  registration.  The  salient 
feature  of  this  type  of  field  effort  is  that  it  is  sufficiently  in- 
tensive to  awaken  positive  effort  to  put  proper  methods  in 
actual  practice.  It  is  a  matter  of  much  moment  that  these  field 
efforts  are  exercised  where  possible  through  the  medium  of 
the  agricultural  school  work.  At  present  in  the  county  schools,., 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  later  in  the  high  schools  in  which  agricul- 
ture will  be  developed,  this  propaganda  work  .can  be  best  con- 
tinued. This  puts  the  local  teaching  agency  in  direct  vital  con- 
tact with  the  problems  of  the  farm,  thus  vivifying  the  efforts 
of  the  instructor  and  creating  a  most  wholesome  relation  be- 
tween the  school  and  the  community. 

The  field  workers  from  the  university  come  in  personal  con- 
tact with  the  people  whose  problems  are  pressing  for  solution,, 
through  the  medium  of  the  summer  work  and  also  in  these  win- 
ter courses,  but  the  continuous  presence  of  an  active  local 
agency  to  which  they  can  look  for  help  has  been  found  to  be  of 
utmost  service. 

Where  such  agencies  (county  agricultural  schools  or  high 
schools  with  agricultural  departments)  do  not  already  exist,  it 
is  possible  to  stimulate  effort  in  this  direction  through  the 
medium  of  an  agricultural  specialist  who  is  an  agent  of  the 
college  located  in  a  restricted  area,  say  a  county  or  a  portion 
of  a  county.  Such  a  method  of  itinerant  instruction  has  been 
developed  in  the  province  of  Ontario,  and  also  in  Bavaria,  Ger- 
many. Such  resident  specialists  would  be  wholly  comparable 
to  the  resident  professors  in  general  university  extension  who 
are  permanently  located  in  the  industrial  centers  in  which  the 
field  work  is  intensively  organized.  Such  an  organizer  would 
serve  as  the  local  nucleus  which  in  time  might  be  the  means 
of  stimulating  interest  in  agricultural  education  to  the  point  of 
organizing  educational  eff'ort  directly  in  the  high  school  or  the 
special  county  schools.  When  his  work  resulted  in  such  fruit- 
age, he  could  be  withdrawn  and  leave  the  further  development 
to  the  local  agency. 

It  is  our  belief  that  this  system .  should  be  tried  in  Wiscon- 
sin and  its  applicability  to  our  conditions  determined.  The 
lines  of  activity  capable  of  development  through  such  an  agency 
are  manifold.  As  illustration  of  the  possibilities,  mention  may 
be  made  of  a  single  type  of  work,  such  as  pushing  the  develop- 


EXTENSION  OF  INDUSTRIAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  TRAINING.     135 

merit  of  the  young  people's  corn  and  grain  growing  contests. 
At  present  this  work  has  been  extended  to  about  forty  counties, 
the  college  working  in  co-operation  with  the  county  superin- 
tendent of  schools.  This  year  corn  was  sent  to  about  15,000 
young  people  and  about  6,000  samples  were  entered  for  compe- 
tition at  the  various  county  fairs.  Last  year  educational  prizes 
were  granted  to  one  scholar  in  each  contest,  which  consisted  of 
paying  the  boy's  expenses  from  his  home  to  Madison  and  return 
to  attend  the  special  work  given  these  young  people  at  the 
university.  The  educational  value  of  this  work  is  already 
apparent,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  a  wide  extension  of 
this  propaganda  would  go  far  in  inciting  a  permanent  interest 
of  these  boys  in  agricultural  pursuits. 

The  main  problem  in  this  system  of  specialists  would  be  to 
secure  men  of  proper  training  and  experience,  for  men  capable 
of  covering  general  activities  of  this  sort  are  the  hardest  to  find 
of  any  class/  The  results  already  obtained  in  this  work,  al- 
though only  organized  a  few  years,  attest  the  genuine  interest 
that  is  roused  in  the  minds  of  actual  soil  tillers.  Not  only  is 
this  a  matter  of  great  importance  in  itself,  but  the  change  which 
is  thus  produced  in  the  mind  of  the  parent  exerts  the  strongest 
possible  effect  on  his  whole  attitude  toward  education. 

In  furtherance  of  the  above  plan  your  commission  recom- 
mends the  insertion  of  a  clause  in  the  agricultural  field  service 
bill  which  will  permit  the  appointment  of  travelling  teachers 
of  agriculture. 

Conclusion. — A  summary  of  recommendations  contained  in 
the  above  report  upon  agrcultural  education  may  be  found  in 
the  general  report,  page  11. 


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